Excited state acid–base equilibrium of tyrosine

Abstract

Fluorescence attributable to the tyrosinate form of the amino acid tyrosine, previously only observed at pH > pK(S0) = 10.3 where tyrosinate exists in the ground state, has been observed at neutral pH in the presence of high buffer base concentrations. This observation is consistent with the large shift in pK(Sl) predicted from absorption measurements and confirms that proton transfer is indeed a mechanism by which carboxylate ions quench tyrosine fluorescence. The dependence of the fluorescence quantum yields of tyrosine and tyrosinate on pH does not fit a simple excited state acid–base equilibrium model but a more complicated system where carboxylate is also capable of simultaneously quenching tyrosine fluorescence by a mechanism not involving proton transfer. Kinetic analysis of the system allows calculation of pK(S1) = 4.2 for tyrosine. The quantum yield of tyrosinate fluorescence can be appreciably higher than that normally measured at alkaline pH where a separate quenching mechanism must operate. These results have significance in the interpretation of the fluorescence properties of proteins.