Resumen de Biological Interaction of Molybdenocene Dichloride with Bovine Serum Albumin Using Fluorescence Spectroscopy
Moralba Domínguez, José E. Cortés Figueroa, Enrique Meléndez
Bioinorganic topics are ubiquitous in the inorganic chemistry curriculum; however, experiments to enhance understanding of related topics are scarce. In this proposed laboratory, upper undergraduate students assess the biological interaction of molybdenocene dichloride (Cp2MoCl2) with bovine serum albumin (BSA) by fluorescence spectroscopy. Specifically, learners study the quenching mechanism by performing a binding titration of a bovine serum albumin (BSA) solution with molybdenocene dichloride at physiological pH at three temperatures to determine the biomolecular quenching constant as defined in the Stern–Volmer equation. The temperature dependency of the quenching constant allows estimation of thermodynamic parameters which in turn permits an assessment of the nature of the intermolecular interactions involved. This educational activity promotes graph interpretation and integration of concepts such as metallocene–protein interaction, fluorescence quenching, Gibbs energy, entropy, and enthalpy, where students learn to propose a quenching mechanism and to assess the intermolecular forces that may be involved. The proposed experiment can be implemented in various educational settings such as inorganic chemistry, biochemistry, biophysical chemistry, and analytical chemistry.
