Synthesis of an octupolar compound and its biological effects on serum albumin

A special rigid planar structural octupolar molecule titled 2,4,6-tris(p-methylstyryl)-s-triazine (TMT) was synthesized and its interaction with bovine serum albumin (BSA) were studied by molecular spectroscopy. The quenching mechanism of fluorescence of BSA by TMT was discussed. The thermodynamic parameters ΔH ^θ, ΔG ^θ, ΔS ^θ at different temperatures were calculated and the results indicate hydrogen bond forces played major role in the reaction and the reaction was mainly enthalpy-driven. The distance r between donor (BSA) and acceptor (TMT) was obtained according to Förster theory of non-radiation energy transfer. Circular dichroism (CD) spectra, synchronous and three-dimensional fluorescence spectra were used to investigate the structural change of BSA molecules with addition of TMT, the result indicates that the α-helical structures of BSA molecules reduced in the presence of TMT. Sketch map of the interaction process was analyzed at molecular level.