For more than half a century, pericyclic reactions have played an important role in advancing our fundamental understanding of cycloadditions, sigmatropic shifts, group transfer reactions, and electrocyclization reactions. However, the fundamental mechanisms of photochemically activated cheletropic reactions have remained contentious. Here we report on the simplest cheletropic reaction: the [2+1] addition of ground state 18 O-carbon monoxide (C 18 O, X 1 Σ + ) to D2-acetylene (C 2 D 2 ) photochemically excited to the first excited triplet (T1), second excited triplet (T2), and first excited singlet state (S1) at 5 K, leading to the formation of D2- 18 O-cyclopropenone (c-C 3 D 2 18 O). Supported by quantum-chemical calculations, our investigation provides persuasive testimony on stepwise cheletropic reaction pathways to cyclopropenone via excited state dynamics involving the T2 (non-adiabatic) and S1 state (adiabatic) of acetylene at 5 K, while the T1 state energetically favors an intermediate structure that directly dissociates after relaxing to the ground state. The agreement between experiments in low temperature ices and the excited state calculations signifies how photolysis experiments coupled with theoretical calculations can untangle polyatomic reactions with relevance to fundamental physical organic chemistry at the molecular level, thus affording a versatile strategy to unravel exotic non-equilibrium chemistries in cyclic, aromatic organics. Distinct from traditional radical–radical pathways leading to organic molecules on ice-coated interstellar nanoparticles (interstellar grains) in cold molecular clouds and star-forming regions, the photolytic formation of cyclopropenone as presented changes the perception of how we explain the formation of complex organics in the interstellar medium eventually leading to the molecular precursors of biorelevant molecules.
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Tyrosine, cysteine, and proton coupled electron transfer in a ribonucleotide reductase-inspired beta hairpin maquette
Tyrosine residues act as intermediates in proton coupled electron transfer reactions (PCET) in proteins. For example, in ribonucleotide reductase (RNR), a tyrosyl radical oxidizes an active site cysteine via a 35 Å pathway that contains multiple aromatic groups. When singlet tyrosine is oxidized, the radical becomes a strong acid, and proton transfer reactions, which are coupled with the redox reaction, may be used to control reaction rate. Here, we characterize a tyrosine-containing beta hairpin, Peptide O, which has a cross-strand, noncovalent interaction between its single tyrosine, Y5, and a cysteine (C14). Circular dichroism provides evidence for a thermostable beta-turn. EPR spectroscopy shows that Peptide O forms a neutral tyrosyl radical after UV photolysis at 160 K. Molecular dynamics simulations support a phenolic/SH interaction in the tyrosine singlet and radical states. Differential pulse voltammetry exhibits pH dependence consistent with the formation of a neutral tyrosyl radical and a p K a change in two other residues. A redox-coupled decrease in cysteine p K a from 9 (singlet) to 6.9 (radical) is assigned. At pD 11, picosecond transient absorption spectroscopy after UV photolysis monitors tyrosyl radical recombination via electron transfer (ET). The ET rate in Peptide O is indistinguishable from the ET rates observed in peptides containing a histidine and a cyclohexylalanine (Cha) at position 14. However, at pD 9, the tyrosyl radical decays via PCET, and the decay rate is slowed, when compared to the histidine 14 variant. Notably, the decay rate is accelerated, when compared to the Cha 14 variant. We conclude that redox coupling between tyrosine and cysteine can act as a PCET control mechanism in proteins.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1801926
- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10172586
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Chemical Communications
- Volume:
- 55
- Issue:
- 63
- ISSN:
- 1359-7345
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 9399 to 9402
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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Proteins are commonly known to transfer electrons over distances limited to a few nanometers. However, many biological processes require electron transport over far longer distances. For example, soil and sediment bacteria transport electrons, over hundreds of micrometers to even centimeters, via putative filamentous proteins rich in aromatic residues. However, measurements of true protein conductivity have been hampered by artifacts due to large contact resistances between proteins and electrodes. Using individual amyloid protein crystals with atomic-resolution structures as a model system, we perform contact-free measurements of intrinsic electronic conductivity using a four-electrode approach. We find hole transport through micrometer-long stacked tyrosines at physiologically relevant potentials. Notably, the transport rate through tyrosines (105s−1) is comparable to cytochromes. Our studies therefore show that amyloid proteins can efficiently transport charges, under ordinary thermal conditions, without any need for redox-active metal cofactors, large driving force, or photosensitizers to generate a high oxidation state for charge injection. By measuring conductivity as a function of molecular length, voltage, and temperature, while eliminating the dominant contribution of contact resistances, we show that a multistep hopping mechanism (composed of multiple tunneling steps), not single-step tunneling, explains the measured conductivity. Combined experimental and computational studies reveal that proton-coupled electron transfer confers conductivity; both the energetics of the proton acceptor, a neighboring glutamine, and its proximity to tyrosine influence the hole transport rate through a proton rocking mechanism. Surprisingly, conductivity increases 200-fold upon cooling due to higher availability of the proton acceptor by increased hydrogen bonding.
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null (Ed.)Nitrite reductases are enzymes that aid in the denitrification process by catalyzing the reduction of nitrite to nitric oxide gas. Since this reaction is the first committed step that involves gas formation, it is regarded to be a vital step for denitrification. However, the mechanism of copper-containing nitrite reductase is still under debate due to the discrepancy between the theoretical and experimental data, especially in terms of the roles of secondary shell residues Asp98 and His255 and the electron transfer mechanism between the two copper sites. Herein, we revisited the nitrite reduction mechanism of A. faecalis copper nitrite reductase using QM(B3LYP)/MM-based metadynamics. It is found that the intramolecular electron transfer from T1-Cu to T2-Cu occurs via an asynchronous proton-coupled electron transfer (PCET) mechanism, with electron transfer (ET) preceding proton transfer (PT). In particular, we found that the ET process is driven by the conformation conversion of Asp98 from the gatekeeper to the proximal one, which is much more energy-demanding than the PCET itself. These results highlight that the inclusion of an electron donor is vital to investigate electron-transfer related processes such as PCET.more » « less
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Abstract A panchromatic triad, consisting of benzothiazole (BTZ) and BF2‐chelated boron‐dipyrromethene (BODIPY) moieties covalently linked to a zinc porphyrin (ZnP) core, has been synthesized and systematically characterized by using1H NMR spectroscopy, ESI‐MS, UV‐visible, steady‐state fluorescence, electrochemical, and femtosecond transient absorption techniques. The absorption band of the triad, BTZ‐BODIPY‐ZnP, and dyads, BTZ‐BODIPY and BODIPY‐ZnP, along with the reference compounds BTZ‐OMe, BODIPY‐OMe, and ZnP‐OMe exhibited characteristic bands corresponding to individual chromophores. Electrochemical measurements on BTZ‐BODIPY‐ZnP exhibited redox behavior similar to that of the reference compounds. Upon selective excitation of BTZ (≈290 nm) in the BTZ‐BODIPY‐ZnP triad, the fluorescence of the BTZ moiety is quenched, due to photoinduced energy transfer (PEnT) from1BTZ*to the BODIPY moiety, followed by quenching of the BODIPY emission due to sequential PEnT from the1BODIPY* moiety to ZnP, resulting in the appearance of the ZnP emission, indicating the occurrence of a two‐step singlet–singlet energy transfer. Further, a supramolecular tetrad, BTZ‐BODIPY‐ZnP:ImC60, was formed by axially coordinating the triad with imidazole‐appended fulleropyrrolidine (ImC60), and parallel steady‐state measurements displayed the diminished emission of ZnP, which clearly indicated the occurrence of photoinduced electron transfer (PET) from1ZnP* to ImC60. Finally, femtosecond transient absorption spectral studies provided evidence for the sequential occurrence of PEnT and PET events, namely,1BTZ*‐BODIPY‐ZnP:ImC60→BTZ‐1BODIPY*‐ZnP:ImC60→BTZ‐BODIPY‐1ZnP*:ImC60→BTZ‐BODIPY‐ZnP.+:ImC60.−in the supramolecular tetrad. The evaluated rate of energy transfer,
k EnT, was found to be 3–5×1010 s−1, which was slightly faster than that observed in the case of BODIPY‐ZnP and BTZ‐BODIPY‐ZnP, lacking the coordinated ImC60. The rate constants for charge separation and recombination,k CSandk CR, respectively, calculated by monitoring the rise and decay of C60.−were found to be 5.5×1010and 4.4×108 s−1, respectively, for the BODIPY‐ZnP:ImC60triad, and 3.1×1010and 4.9×108 s−1, respectively, for the BTZ‐BODIPY‐ZnP:ImC60tetrad. Initial excitation of the tetrad, promoting two‐step energy transfer and a final electron‐transfer event, has been successfully demonstrated in the present study. -
null (Ed.)A novel pyranine derivative, Et HPTA-OH, was synthesized via the substitution of the anionic sulfonate groups with neutral diethylsulfonamide groups. The photophysical and photochemical properties of Et HPTA-OH were studied using photoluminescence quenching and transient absorption spectroscopy. The singlet state of Et HPTA-OH was found to be highly photoacidic (p K a * = 8.74 in acetonitrile). A series of aniline and pyridine bases were used to investigate excited-state proton transfer (ESPT) from singlet Et HPTA-OH, and rate constants for singlet quenching via ESPT were determined ( k q = 5.18 × 10 9 to 1.05 × 10 10 M −1 s −1 ). Et HPTA-OH was also found to exhibit a long-lived triplet state which reacts through a triplet–triplet annihilation (TTA) process to reform singlet Et HPTA-OH on timescales of up to 80 μs. Detection of ESPT photoproducts on timescales comparable to that of TTA singlet regeneration provides strong evidence for photoacidic behavior stemming from the regenerated singlet Et HPTA-OH.more » « less
- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.1039/C9CC04067F
