Jm. Warman et al., MALEIMIDO-FLUOROPROBE - A DUAL-PURPOSE FLUOROGENIC PROBE OF POLYMERIZATION DYNAMICS, JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY B, 101(25), 1997, pp. 4913-4916
Maleimido-fluoroprobe (MFP) is a derivative of ''fluoroprobe'' (FP), t
he most sensitive known fluorescent polarity probe. MFP differs from F
P in that it is completely nonfluorescent. The characteristic strong F
P-type fluorescence is however switched on when the C=C bond of the ma
leimide group becomes saturated forming the succinimide derivative, SF
P. This fluorogenic behavior is shown to be induced by copolymerizatio
n of MFP into growing polyacrylate chains. The increase in the intensi
ty of the fluorescence, which is observable even in the early, low-vis
cosity stage of polymerization, provides therefore a measure of the de
gree of polymerization. The strong blue shift of the fluorescence of c
hain-incorporated SFP moieties fulfills the usual polarity probe funct
ion of monitoring changes in the microscopic dielectric environment of
the polymer as vitrification takes place. This duality in the probe c
haracteristics of MFP is illustrated by results on the radiation-induc
ed bulk polymerization of methyl methacrylate.