Role of Solvent, pH, and molecular size in excited-state deactivation of key eumelanin building blocks: implications for melanin pigment photostability

…, A Napolitano, M d'Ischia, V Sundstrom

Index: Gauden; Pezzella; Panzella; Neves-Petersen; Skovsen; Petersen; Mullen; Napolitano; D'Ischia; Sundstroem Journal of the American Chemical Society, 2008 , vol. 130, # 50 p. 17038 - 17043

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Citation Number: 53

Abstract

Ultrafast time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy has been used to investigate the excited- state dynamics of the basic eumelanin building block 5, 6-dihydroxyindole-2-carboxylic acid (DHICA), its acetylated, methylated, and carboxylic ester derivatives, and two oligomers, a dimer and a trimer in the O-acetylated forms. The results show that (1) excited-state decays are faster for the trimer relative to the monomer;(2) for parent DHICA, excited-state ...