BOOK REVIEW pubs.acs.org/JACS
Book Review of Advanced Fluorescence Reporters in Chemistry and Biology I: Fundamentals and Molecular Design Advanced Fluorescence Reporters in Chemistry and Biology I: Fundamentals and Molecular Design. Edited by Alexander P. Demchenko (National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine). Springer Series on Fluorescence, 08. Springer-Verlag: Berlin, Heidelberg. 2010. x þ 390 pp. $409. ISBN 978-3-642-04700-8.
If there are certain research areas that combine the insights of chemistry, physics, and biology, molecular fluorescence is surely one of them. The eighth Springer Series on Fluorescence by series editor Wolfbeis and volume editor Demchenko presents some of the very latest developments in fluorescent reporters. Taking a twofold approach to initiate the reader into the rapidly evolving area of techniques for fluorescence detection, this volume combines chapters that (1) give highly informative tutorials on the theory and practice of new experimental methods and (2) demonstrate the latest applications of dye synthesis ranging from combinatorial synthesis to more rational design. The breadth and scope of the volume is to be applauded as it assembles an evenly selected set of international experts and contributors. Ever the docent, Demchenko begins the volume with a primer on state-of-the art techniques including time-resolved and timegated detection as well as the use of wavelength ratiometry and the analytical advantage of dual emitters (transitions between excited states) over single-emitter fluorophores. Part II of the book is dedicated to the design of new fluorophores. It contains chapters that focus on existing fluorescent platforms, coumarins, pyrenes, rhodamines, etc., and synthetic optimization of their fluorescent features toward chemosensors. In addition, the latest work on near-IR dyes, such as cyanines and squaraines as longwavelength probes, is featured along with a concise tutorial on two-photon absorption. A comparison of strategies toward the discovery of new fluorescent dyes is skillfully made by Kim and Park as they provide recent studies involving targeted synthesis versus combinatorial approaches. An array of excited state transformations ranging from excitedstate proton transfers and the rotational dynamics of donor acceptor systems to in-depth quantum mechanical predictions of electrochromism and solvatochromism is highlighted in Part III. Each chapter therein provides some key background theory along with some of the “hottest” applications thereof, such as white-organic light-emitting devices and microviscosity probes for cells. Part IV concludes the volume with an appropriate nod to the Nobel-prize winning work of Tsien, Chalfie, and Shimomura with the latest developments in the research and applications of the green fluorescent protein. The book is not without minor disappointments, such as the chapter “Physical Principles Behind Spectroscopic Response of Organic Fluorophores to Intermolecular Interactions” which starts with the Jablonski diagram and ends with the twisted internal charge-transfer (TICT) fluorophores of Grabowski. Given r 2011 American Chemical Society
the large number of textbooks dedicated to the fundamentals of fluorescence and reviews on TICT dyes, much of the dated literature citations found in this section results in a less noteworthy chapter. Despite these criticisms, the description on the fundamentals of solvatochromism should prove quite helpful to the uninitiated. Perhaps the most satisfying aspect of the volume is the broad scope of each of the 11 chapters. All too often, it seems the authors of such volumes in a series highlight their own research interests to the exclusion of others. In most cases, you will not find that egocentric aspect here, and to his credit, Demchenko has assembled a fine collection of “other-directed” contributing authors. Given the many facets of molecular fluorescence, the book is sure to inspire budding spectroscopists, biologists, and chemists as well as established researchers to investigate new veins of research in this rapidly advancing area. Michael D. Heagy New Mexico Institute of Mining & Technology
10.1021/ja202630f
Published: April 26, 2011 7619
dx.doi.org/10.1021/ja202630f | J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2011, 133, 7619–7619
