Stępień Lab In pictures
Fluorescent moments captured in our lab
These pyrrole and oligopyrrole products fluoresce under 365 nm UV light as they swirl in their vials. Yogesh Kumar Maurya and Liliia Moshniaha synthesized them through a series of organic transformations. Their tunable absorption, emission, and redox properties make them useful platforms for functional chromophores, charge-storage materials, energy and electron transfer, and photodynamic therapy.
Credit: Yogesh Kumar Maurya and Liliia Moshniaha
The intense red fluorescence of a π-extended pyrrole inspired Joanna Hager and Yogesh Kumar Maurya to arrange this composition. In a filter funnel under bluish light, the compound resembled a flower pistil floating in water; other fluorescent products from the lab completed the scene.
Credit: Joanna Hager and Yogesh Kumar Maurya
During column chromatography of an azacoronene precursor, Daniel Matuszczyk noticed a fraction that emitted intense green light under UV irradiation, even in the solid state. The glow of this π-extended pyrrole chromophore resembles wildfire on a distant planet.
Credit: Daniel Matuszczyk
Ripples spread through a solution of orange- and yellow-emitting compounds in a Petri dish, making the fluorescence appear to fade away from the center. Liliia Moshniaha and Yogesh Kumar Maurya captured the effect for Fluorescence Friday after noticing a slowly falling water droplet.
Credit: Liliia Moshniaha and Yogesh Kumar Maurya