Firefly luciferin and its oxidated form, oxyluciferin, are two heterocyclic compounds involved in the enzymatic reaction, catalyzed by redox proteins called luciferases, which provides the bioluminescence in a wide group of arthropods. Whereas the electronic absorption spectra of D-luciferin in water at different pHs are known since 1960s, only recently reliable experimental electronic spectra of oxyluciferin have become available. In addition oxyluciferin is involved in a triple chemical equilibria (deprotonation of the two hydroxyl groups and keto-enol tautomerism of the 4-hydroxythiazole ring), that obligates to select during an experiment a predominant species, tuning pH or solvent polarity besides introducing chemical modifications. In this study we report the absorption spectra of luciferin and oxyluciferin in each principal chemical form, calculated by means of perturbed matrix method (PMM), which allowed us to successfully introduce the effect of the solvent on the spectroscopic absorption properties, and compare the result with available experimental data. (C) 2011 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.
Anselmi, M., Marocchi, S., Aschi, M., Amadei, A. (2012). Theoretical modeling of the spectroscopic absorption properties of luciferin and oxyluciferin: A critical comparison with recent experimental studies. CHEMICAL PHYSICS, 392(1), 205-214 [10.1016/j.chemphys.2011.11.021].
Theoretical modeling of the spectroscopic absorption properties of luciferin and oxyluciferin: A critical comparison with recent experimental studies
AMADEI, ANDREA
2012-01-01
Abstract
Firefly luciferin and its oxidated form, oxyluciferin, are two heterocyclic compounds involved in the enzymatic reaction, catalyzed by redox proteins called luciferases, which provides the bioluminescence in a wide group of arthropods. Whereas the electronic absorption spectra of D-luciferin in water at different pHs are known since 1960s, only recently reliable experimental electronic spectra of oxyluciferin have become available. In addition oxyluciferin is involved in a triple chemical equilibria (deprotonation of the two hydroxyl groups and keto-enol tautomerism of the 4-hydroxythiazole ring), that obligates to select during an experiment a predominant species, tuning pH or solvent polarity besides introducing chemical modifications. In this study we report the absorption spectra of luciferin and oxyluciferin in each principal chemical form, calculated by means of perturbed matrix method (PMM), which allowed us to successfully introduce the effect of the solvent on the spectroscopic absorption properties, and compare the result with available experimental data. (C) 2011 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
