Photolabile System with Instantaneous Fluorescence Reporting Function

Abstract

A method of photofragmentation is provided comprising: providing a masked fluorescent molecule having a masking group bonded to a fluorescent molecule through a photolabile covalent bond; exposing the masked fluorescent molecule to cleaving photoradiation, producing an unmasked fluorescent molecule; detecting the fluorescence of the unmasked fluorescent molecule. The photolabile covalent bond disrupts the conjugation of the fluorescent molecule, causing the fluorescence to be masked. When the photolabile covalent bond is broken, the conjugation is restored, resulting in an increase in fluorescence of the fluorescent molecule as compared to the masked fluorescent molecule.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.