• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.28 no.12
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• pp.2253-2260
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• 2007

A series of tetra donor substituted [2.2]paracyclophane-based two-photon absorption (TPA) fluorophores were synthesized in neutral and cationic forms. The imaging activity of overall set of fluorophores was studied by the two-photon induced fluorescence (TPIF) method in a range of solvents. We also measured a clear progression toward a longer photoluminescence lifetime with increasing solvent polarity (intrinsic photoluminescence lifetime, τi: ~2 ns in toluene → 12-16 ns in water). The paracyclophane fluorophores with this unique property can be utilized as an optical polarity probe for the biomolecular substrates. The combined measurement of the two-photon fluorescence microscopy (TPM) cell image and TPIF lifetime can give us a better understanding of the biological processes and local environments in the cells.