Spectroscopical properties of a DTAF-labeled hydrophilic-hydrophobic copolymer in water and surfactant micelles

Emulsion copolymerization of hydrophilic alpha-tert-butoxy-omega-vinylbenzyl-polyglycidol macromonomer with styrene yields core shell microspheres and a water-soluble copolymer fraction. This copolymer has a higher content of hydrophilic polyglycidol attested by H-1 NMR. Further information is acquired by labeling the copolymer with 5-(4,6-dichlorotriazinyl)aminofluorescein (DTAF) and making absorption and fluorescence studies. The acquired data on aqueous solution of labeled copolymer without (L) and with micelles of dodecyltrimethylammonium chloride (LD), sodium dodecylsulfate (LS) and hexaethyleneglycol mono n-dodecyl ether (LE) reveal that the dianionic and anionic tautomers of the DTAF-label are apparent and concordant with the recorded spectrophotometric pK(a) values. The emission intensities, quantum yields and lifetimes obey the sequence LE < LS < L < LD. They are along with the increasingly deprotonated forms of the fluorophore and unveil that the micelle-label interactions depend on the surfactant. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.