Effects of Surfactants on the Aggregation of 6,6'-Disubstituted Thiacarbocyanine Dyes in Aqueous Solutions

The aggregation properties of a number of 6,6'-substituted thiacarbocyanine dyes were studied by spectral-fluorescent methods: T-304, T-306, T-307, T-336 and, for comparison, thiacarbocyanine Cyan 2, which has no substituents in the 6,6'-positions, in aqueous buffer solutions and in the presence of various types of surfactants. The method of moments was used to characterize the absorption spectra (band positions, width, shape). Substituents in the 6,6'-positions significantly increase the ability of dyes T-304, T-306, T-307, T-336 to aggregation (dimerization, as well as to the formation of disordered aggregates with broad low-intensity absorption spectra). The introduction of surfactants leads to rearrangement of the spectra associated with the complex nature of the equilibria between monomers and aggregates of various structures (including surfactant molecules, if present), in particular, with a decrease in the contribution of disordered aggregates. However, the decomposition of dimeric aggregates of 6,6'-substituted cyanines is observed only at very high surfactant concentrations (~20 CMC and higher, where CMC is the critical micelle concentration). At the same time, the passing of surfactant concentrations through CMC does not significantly affect the spectral-fluorescent properties of the dyes, which is probably due to rather strong interactions of the dyes with individual surfactant molecules and premicellar associates of surfactants.