Exploring Norbornadiene/Quadricyclane Structures for Possible Alzheimer’s Disease Detection

Authors

  • Ružica Marković
  • Kurt V. Mikkelsen Department of Chemistry, University of Copenhagen Universitetsparken 5, DK-2100 Copenhagen, Denmark

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.63002/asrp.304.1009

Keywords:

Alzheimer’s disease, norbornadiene/quadricyclane, pyrene, fluorescence

Abstract

Developing efficient and selective biomarkers for amyloid plaques, a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease, is a crucial step to wardimproving detection methods and potentially preventing the disease. In this study, we explore fluorescent photoswitches based on a norbornadiene (NBD) system combined with pyrene as po tential biomarker candidates. Specifically, NBD-1PY and NBD 2PY were selected, each featuring different pyrene substitution patterns. Their UV-Vis absorption spectra were computed using time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) across various solvent systems. Our findings indicate that the calculated spec tra in toluene closely match experimental results. Additionally, minimal spectral shifts were observed upon transitioning to sol vents more suitable for biological applications. The energy differ ences between the photoswitchable NBD and quadricyclane (QC) forms remained largely unaffected by solvent variations. These results suggest that both NBD-1PY and NBD-2PY exhibit promis ing properties for further investigation as potential biomarkers for Alzheimer’s disease detection.

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Published

11-07-2025