Neal Lab
Multivariate Optical Spectroscopy of
Biomolecular Assemblies in Complex Fluids
One of the main foci of our efforts is complete analysis of probes that that exhibit complex emissions in complex fluids such as lipids. For example, the dyes PRODAN and LAURDAN have been used by biophysicists investigating lipid properties for many years under the assumption that the emission consisted of species interacting with gel (solid) and liquid crystalline (melted) phase lipids. The results of our recent work with these probes demonstrates that these probes emit from at least two states in many isotropic solvents and more than three states in microheterogeneous media. Similar analyses of the environment sensitive polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbon pyrene also have been performed. We have begun investigation of the photokinetics of flavone derivatives and plan to expand these investigations to other probes that undergo excited state reactions in the near future. 
