Photophysical properties of 3-[2-cyano-4-(dimethylamino) phenyl] alanine: a highly fluorescent and environment-sensitive amino acid with small molecular size
A new nonnatural amino acid 3-[2-cyano-4-(dimethylamino) phenyl] alanine (CDAPA) is virtually nonfluorescent in water but shows significant enhancement of fluorescence intensity and lifetime when the molecule partitions to nonaqueous environments, suggesting that this molecule is a good candidate as small fluorescent probe for proteins.
