Singlet Oxygen Quenching by Deoxygadusol and Related Mycosporine-Like Amino Acids from Phytoplankton Prorocentrum micans

Deoxygadusol (DO) and structurally related mycosporine-like amino acids, i.e. mycosporine glycine (MO) and mycosporine taurine (MT), were isolated from phytoplankton Prorocentrum micans and studied for the reactivity toward singlet oxygen. These water-soluble compounds with a cyclohexenone chromophore were all shown to be highly effective in quenching singlet oxygen ($^1$ $O_2$), with the efficiencies being significantly larger compared with histidine, a well-known $^1$ $O_2$ quencher. The $^1$ $O_2$ reaction rate constant ( $k_{Q}$) of DG was determined to be 5.4 ${\times}$ 10$^{7}$ $M^{-1}$ $s^{-1}$ by a steady state method based on competitive inhibition of rubrene oxidation. The feasibility of this method was confirmed by estimating the $k_{Q}$ values for MG and two other quenchers, furfuryl alcohol and 1,4-diazabicyclo [2,2,2]octane, and comparing with those values determined by the time-resolved $^1$ $O_2$ decay method in the previous work.ork.