skip to main content
US FlagAn official website of the United States government
dot gov icon
Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
https lock icon
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( lock ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Explore Research Products in the PAR
It may take a few hours for recently added research products to appear in PAR search results.


  • NSF Public Access
  • Search Results
  • Triplet-State Dynamics of Bacteriochlorophyll a in the Fenna–Matthews–Olson (FMO) Complex and Its Modulation by PscB, a Subunit in the Reaction Center of Chlorobaculum tepidum

This content will become publicly available on May 8, 2026

Title: Triplet-State Dynamics of Bacteriochlorophyll a in the Fenna–Matthews–Olson (FMO) Complex and Its Modulation by PscB, a Subunit in the Reaction Center of Chlorobaculum tepidum
In this study, the triplet-state properties of BChl a in the Fenna-Matthews-Olson (FMO) light-harvesting complex were interrogated in the absence and presence of PscB, a subunit of the Cba. tepidum reaction center (RC), at room temperature and at 77 K. Application of nanosecond time-resolved transient absorption spectroscopy supports a model in which the pathway of the triplet excitation decay within FMO has two phases, with a fast lifetime of 2.58 μs (0.57 μs at 77 K) and a slow lifetime of 44.8 μs (44.1 μs at 77 K) in the FMO-only sample. Reconstitution of PscB and FMO, however, alters the spectral signatures of BChl a excitons uniquely at 815 nm in the steady-state spectrum at 77 K. Additionally, the triplet-state lifetime of BChl a in the FMO-PscB complex shortens by almost 40% to 28.1 μs at 77 K. The two FMO trimers asymmetrically interfacing with the homodimeric RC wire excitation energy from the chlorosome to the latter. Our data supports that the single central PscB, besides its redox active roles as the electron mediators to ferredoxin, is highly plausibly involved in fine-tuning the asymmetric excitation energy transfer from two branches of FMO to the RC in green sulfur bacteria.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
2317015
PAR ID:
10589154
Author(s) / Creator(s):
; ; ;
Publisher / Repository:
ACS Publications
Date Published:
Journal Name:
The Journal of Physical Chemistry B
Volume:
129
Issue:
18
ISSN:
1520-6106
Page Range / eLocation ID:
4309 to 4319
Subject(s) / Keyword(s):
Absorption Absorption Spectroscopy Dyes And Pigments Light Absorption Quantum Mechanics
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
More Like this
  1. ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; (, Nature Materials)
    Shevlin, Stephen (Ed.)
    Rhenium chalcohalide cluster compounds are a photoluminescent family of mixed-anion chalcohalide cluster materials. Here we report the new material Rb6Re6S8I8, which crystallizes in the cubic space group Fm m and contains isolated [Re6S8I6]4− clusters. Rb6Re6S8I8 has a band gap of 2.06(5) eV and an ionization energy of 5.51(3) eV, and exhibits broad photoluminescence (PL) ranging from 1.01 eV to 2.12 eV. The room-temperature PL exhibits a PL quantum yield of 42.7% and a PL lifetime of 77 μs (99 μs at 77 K). Rb6Re6S8I8 is found to be soluble in multiple polar solvents including N,N-dimethylformamide, which enables solution processing of the material into films with thickness under 150 nm. Light-emitting diodes based on films of Rb6Re6S8I8 were fabricated, demonstrating the potential for this family of materials in optoelectronic devices. 
    more » « less
  2. ; ; (, Faraday Discussions)
    For over a decade there has been some significant excitement and speculation that quantum effects may be important in the excitation energy transport process in the light harvesting complexes of certain bacteria and algae, in particular via the Fenna–Matthews–Olsen (FMO) complex. Whilst the excitement may have waned somewhat with the realisation that the observed long-lived oscillations in two-dimensional electronic spectra of FMO are probably due to vibronic coherences, it remains a question whether these coherences may play any important role. We review our recent work showing how important the site-to-site variation in coupling between chloroplasts in FMO and their protein scaffold environment is for energy transport in FMO and investigate the role of vibronic modes in this transport. Whilst the effects of vibronic excitations seem modest for FMO, we show that for bilin-based pigment–protein complexes of marine algae, in particular PC645, the site-dependent vibronic excitations seem essential for robust excitation energy transport, which may again open the door for important quantum effects to be important in these photosynthetic complexes. 
    more » « less
  3. ; ; (, Dalton Transactions)
    null (Ed.)
    Two efficient lanthanide ion sensitizers 2,6-bis(oxazoline)-4-phenyl-pyridine (PyboxPh, 1 ) and 2,6-bis(oxazoline)-4-thiophen-2-yl-pyridine (Pybox2Th, 2 ) were synthesized. 1 crystallizes in the monoclinic space group P 21/ c with cell parameters a = 16.3794(4) Å, b = 7.2856(2) Å, c = 11.7073(3) Å, β = 97.229(1)° and V = 1385.97(6) Å 3 . 2 crystallizes in the monoclinic space group P 21/ n with cell parameters a = 5.9472(2), b = 16.0747(6), c = 14.3716(5) Å, β = 93.503(1)° and V = 1371.35(8) Å 3 . Photophysical characterization of 1 shows that its triplet state energy is located at 22 250 cm −1 and efficient energy transfer is observed for Eu III and Tb III . Solutions of [Ln(PyboxPh) 3 ] 3+ in dichloromethane display an emission efficiency of 37.2% for LnEu and 24.0% for LnTb. The excited state lifetimes for Eu III and Tb III are 2.227 ms and 723 μs, respectively. The triplet state energy of 2 is located at 19 280 cm −1 and is therefore too low to efficiently sensitize Tb III emission. However, the sensitization of Eu III is effective, with an emission quantum yield of 14.5% and an excited state lifetime of 714 μs. This shows that the derivatization of the chelator is strongly influenced by the aromatic substituents on the para -position of the pyridine ring. New isostructural 1 : 1 complexes of PyboxPh with Eu III ( 3 ) and Tb III ( 4 ) were also isolated and crystallize in the triclinic space group P 1̄ with cell parameters a = 9.1845(2) Å, b = 10.3327(2) Å, c = 11.9654(2) Å, α = 98.419(1)°, β = 108.109(1)°, γ = 91.791(1)°, V = 1064.08(4) Å 3 and a = 7.8052(1) Å, b = 11.8910(1) Å, c = 14.2668(2) Å, α = 72.557(1)°, β = 86.355(1)°, γ = 77.223(1)°, V = 1231.95(3) Å 3 , respectively. 
    more » « less
  4. ; ; ; ; (, Journal of the American Chemical Society)
    NA (Ed.)
    Highly reactive arylalkylcarbenes generated in solution by photolysis of their aryldiazoalkane precursors tend to undergo competing inter- and intramolecular reactions to yield a complex mixture of products. Having previously shown the use of crystals to effectively control the reactivity of arylalkylcarbenes to afford high yields of a single product, it was of interest to investigate whether the crystalline environment could also enable spectroscopic detection of these intermediates en route to photoproduct. Using 1,2,2-triphenyldiazoethane (3) as a model substrate to probe the effect of alternative reaction trajectories that yield triphenylethylene (5) by competing 1,2-H shift or 1,2-Ph migration, we report selectivities consistent with reaction from a spin-equilibrated carbene 4 in solution, while reactions in crystals primarily afford alkene 5 via a lattice-controlled 1,2-H shift. Attempts to detect 1,2,2-triphenylethylidene 4 in crystals by nanosecond laser flash photolysis or by triplet-triplet fluorescence at 77 K were unsuccessful, indicating that arylalkylcarbenes possessing α-H substituents undergo facile 1,2-H shifts both in solution and in the solid state. However, related tert-butylphenylmethylene with no α-H substituents could be observed by triplet-triplet fluorescence at 77 K in glassy matrices. 
    more » « less
  5. ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; (, Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics)
    Bis(bithienyl)-1,2-dicyanoethene (4TCE) is a photoswitch that operates via reversible E / Z photoisomerization following absorption of visible light. cis -to- trans photoisomerization of 4TCE requires excitation below 470 nm, is relatively inefficient (quantum yield < 5%) and occurs via the lowest-lying triplet. We present excitation-wavelength dependent (565–420 nm) transient absorption (TA) studies to probe the photophysics of cis -to- trans isomerization to identify sources of switching inefficiency. TA data reveals contributions from more than one switch conformer and relaxation cascades between multiple states. Fast (∼4 ps) and slow (∼40 ps) components of spectral dynamics observed at low excitation energies (>470 nm) are readily attributed to deactivation of two conformers; this assignment is supported by computed thermal populations and absorption strengths of two molecular geometries (P A and P B ) characterized by roughly parallel dipoles for the thiophenes on opposite sides of the ethene bond. Only the P B conformer is found to contribute to triplet population and the switching of cis -4TCE: high-energy excitation (<470 nm) of P B involves direct excitation to S 2 , relaxation from which prepares an ISC-active S 1 geometry (ISC QY 0.4–0.67, k ISC ∼ 1.6–2.6 × 10 −9 s −1 ) that is the gateway to triplet population and isomerization. We ascribe low cis -to- trans isomerization yield to excitation of the nonreactive P A conformer (75–85% loss) as well as loses along the P B S 2 → S 1 → T 1 cascade (10–20% loss). In contrast, electrocyclization is inhibited by the electronic character of the excited states, as well as a non-existent thermal population of a reactive “antiparallel” ring conformation. 
    more » « less
  • Citation Formats
  • MLA
  • APA
  • Chicago
  • BibTeX
  • Save / Share this Record
  • Send to Email