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We found that N -nitrosoaminoanisole derivatives tethered to dyes work as photocontrollable nitrosonium cation releasers and are converted to potent nitric oxide releasers in the presence of sodium ascorbate. The N -nitrosoaminoanisole derivative 2 worked as a more potent photovasodilating reagent ex vivo than previously reported nitric oxide releasers.

Herein, we report the exceptionally red-shifted absorption of sulfur-substituted silicon(iv) phthalocyanines upon introduction of cationic axial ligands. The Q band was red-shifted to approximately 900 nm with improved hydrophilicity by the combination of peripheral sulfur substituents and axial ammonium ligands. One such phthalocyanine exhibited remarkable photocytotoxicity upon irradiation with NIR light (∼810 nm) in live cells.

Nitroxyl (HNO) is a gaseous molecule with unique pharmacological functions distinct from those of nitric oxide. Because HNO is highly reactive with biological molecules, spatiotemporally controllable HNO releasers are required. Herein, we report the first visible-light-controllable HNO releasers, based on caged Piloty's acid, and we demonstrate their applicability in living cells.

Site-specific fluorescence probes can be used to measure distances within proteins when used as part of a Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) pair. Here we report the synthesis of a coumarin maleimide (Mcm-Mal) that is fluorogenic upon reaction with cysteine. We demonstrate that cysteine, acridonylalanine (Acd) double mutant proteins can be produced by unnatural amino acid mutagenesis and reacted with Mcm-Mal to generate Mcm/Acd labeled proteins for FRET studies. The Mcm/Acd FRET pair is minimally-perturbing, easy to install, and well-suited to studying protein distances in the 15-40 Å range. Furthermore, Mcm/Acd labeling can be combined with tryptophan fluorescence in three color FRET to monitor multiple interactions in one experiment.

We report the design, synthesis and application of a directly photocontrollable hydrogen sulfide (H2S) donor, which releases H2S proportionally to the intensity and duration of photoirradiation. Photocontrolled H2S release from this donor was also demonstrated in bovine serum. This H2S donor should be suitable for use in various biological systems.

Photocontrollable ONOO(-) generation from a nitrobenzene derivative was demonstrated. The designed compound released NO in response to photoirradiation, and the resulting semiquinone reduced molecular oxygen to generate O(2)˙(-); reaction of the two generated ONOO(-), as confirmed with an ONOO(-) fluorescent probe, HKGreen-3., (This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2011)