SOME FUROCOUMARINS AND ANALOGS: COMPARISON OF TRIPLET PROPERTIES IN SOLUTION WITH PHOTOBIOLOGICAL ACTIVITIES IN YEAST

Abstract

Abstract— Some photophysical and photochemical properties of two furocoumarins, three furochro‐menes and one difurobenzene have been studied in ethanol by laser flash spectroscopy. Such properties included the triplet absorption spectra. extinction coefficients, quantum yields of formation and reactivities with the nucleic acid bases thymine and uracil, and the amino acid tryptophan. The effects the same compounds have on survival of the yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae , after 365 nm photosensitization were also investigated. These effects on survival differed markedly for the different compounds. Possible correlations between the photophysical, photochemical and photobiological data are discussed.