Characteristic fluorescence response of (6-hydroxy-2-naphthyl)ethenyl pyridinium dyes with bovine serum albumin

In this study, we report the efficient identification of proteins using (6-hydroxy-2-naphthyl)ethenyl pyridinium dyes (HNEPs). These dyes exhibited characteristic fluorescence responses, showing enhanced fluorescence with a red shift in the case of bovine serum albumin. The nature of the interaction between the dye and the protein was examined using a combination of various spectroscopic techniques. A time-dependent density functional theory analysis supported the strong environment-dependent fluorescence emission properties of the dyes. The current investigation clearly demonstrates that a selective optical responseHNEPs can find potential usefulness as bio-sensing probes.