Evaluation of Photoluminescence Properties of Some Poly(ethylene glycol) – Supported Coumarin Derivatives.docVIP

Molecules 2009, 14, 1044-1055; doi:10.3390/moleculeOPEN ACCESS molecules ISSN 1420-3049 /journal/molecules Article Evaluation of Photoluminescence Properties of Some Poly(ethylene glycol) – Supported Coumarin Derivatives Graziella Tocco 1,*, Carlo Maria Carbonaro 2,*, Gabriele Meli 1and Gianni Podda 1 1 Dipartimento Farmaco Chimico Tecnologico, Università degli Studi di Cagliari, Via Ospedale 72, 09124 Cagliari, CA, Italy; E-mails: cagi1978@ (G.M.), gpodda@unica.it (G.P.) 2 Dipartimento di Fisica- Università degli Studi di Cagliari, S.P. n°8- 09042 Monserrato (Cagliari), Italy * Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed; E-mails: toccog@unica.it (G.T.), cm.carbonaro@dfs.unica.it(C-M.C.); Phone: +390706758551/8711 (G.T.), +390706754823 (C- M.C.); Fax: +390706758553 (G.T.), +39070510171 (C-M.C.). Received: 4 February 2009; in revised form: 26 February 2009 / Accepted: 2 March 2009 / Published: 5 March 2009 Abstract: The immobilization of some coumarin derivatives on modified poly(ethylene glycol)s is reported and the influence of the polymeric support on the photoluminescence activity of the compounds is discussed. Upon ultraviolet excitation, the derivatives showed coumarin - related emission properties whose peak position and efficiency depended on the loading of the polymer and on the mesomeric effects of the substituents. Keywords: Poly(ethylene glycol), Photoluminescence, Coumarins, PEG-conjugation. Introduction Growing interest in coumarin chemistry was sparked by the discovery of their versatility in a large number of applications. Over the last few decades, in fact, several polycyclic compounds containing at least one coumarinic unit have been isolated from natural products and a lot of derivatives have been synthesized and investigated especially for their biological (anti-HIV, antibacterial, anti- hyperproliferative, anticoagulant) [1,2] and photophysical