Synthesis, characterization, and energy transfer studies of dye-labeled poly(butyl methacrylate) latex particles prepared by miniemulsion polymerization

Poly(butyl methacrylate) (PBMA) latex particles have been copolymerized with new fluorescent naphthalimide dyes by miniemulsion polymerization. A new pair of naphthalimide dye monomers was synthesized and copolymerized with butyl methacrylate (BMA) via miniemulsion polymerization, producing approximately 80 nm diameter particles with a narrow size distribution. We were able to prepare polymers with molecular weights in excess of 100,000 g/mol. We also prepared 30,000 g/mol polymers using 1-dodecanethiol as a chain transfer agent. GPC and UV characterization suggest that nearly all of the dye monomers were incorporated into the PBMA polymer chains. The polymerized naphthalimide dyes can be used as a donor-acceptor pair for fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) experiments. The analysis of FRET experiments is complicated by the slightly non-exponential decay of the donor naphthalimide dye. We propose a simple method to deal with this non-exponential behavior in the data analysis. Using our approach, we find that the Förster radius (R_o) between the donor and the acceptor dyes incorporated in the PBMA latex is 3.8 nm. This value is similar to the 3.6 nm Förster radius of a comparable model dye pair in ethyl acetate obtained by a different method.