Synthesis of new inexpensive fluorescent water-soluble amine-reactive reagents for biomolecules labeling: application to cultural heritage.

Abstract

Cultural heritage assets are being continuously submitted to physical, chemical and biological degradation. Biodegradation is the major factor for their deterioration, with microorganisms being of critical importance due to their metabolism and proliferation. In this context, it is frequently necessary identify and locate individual microorganisms and detect small amounts of biomolecules, as proteins, to know, evaluate and understand the biodeterioration processes for the most appropriate restoration procedures or conservation conditions. Fluorescent labeling is one of the most widely used techniques for bioanalytical applications, with fluorescence-based detection drawing growing interest in both the advancement of fluorescence instrumentation and the design of new fluorophores. Fluorescent labels, commonly employed in highly sensitive analytical techniques to detect and track biomolecules in vital fields like cellular biology, medicine, medicinal chemistry, and environmental science, remain prohibitively expensive for routine use in standard applications. In this work, using 4-diethylaminobenzaldehyde as starting material, we developed a simple, cost-effective and efficient synthetic strategy to produce new inexpensive small molecules as effective fluorescent labels for biomolecules present in cultural heritage. This work will enable the advancement of new methodologies for diagnosing biodegradation, thereby contributing to the development of preventive strategies and effective remediation in the field of cultural heritage.