CHLOROPHYLL SENSITIZED CHARGE SEPARATION IN PHOSPHOLIPID VESICLES

Abstract— Chlorophyll (chl) a in sonicated egg yolk lecithin vesicles, even with local concentrations of 0.1 M, exists in its monomeric form as is evident by the absorption, circular dichroic and EPR spectra of such suspensions. With the water soluble oxidants, K₃Fe(CN)₆ or SmCl₃, it is possible to photoproduce the chl cation radical. With K₃Fe(CN)₆ as acceptor the formation and decay kinetics can be explained by a second order process influenced by diffusion of the water soluble components in this heterogenous system. With the exception of an iron-sulfur protein isolated from Rhodospirillum ruhrum , we have not detected a photochemical reaction of chl with various iron-sulfur proteins or ubiquinone.     

MECHANISM OF CONCENTRATION QUENCHING OF A XANTHENE DYE ENCAPSULATED IN PHOSPHOLIPID VESICLES

Encapsulating a xanthene dye in phospholipid vesicles produces vesicle solutions that contain dye at very high microscopic concentrations, but have a low overall optical density, thereby eliminating reabsorption. Using this system, we have studied the effects of concentration on the fluorescence lifetime of one such dye, sulforhodamine 101. We have observed that the lifetime decreases as a function of encapsulated dye concentration, which is indicative of collisional quenching. The lifetime decreases from 4.5 nsec for sulforhodamine in dilute aqueous solution to 0.69 ns at an encapsulated concentration of 33 m M . The bimolecular rate constant for this event is 2.6 10¹⁰ M ^-1 s^-1, consistent with a diffusion controlled event. However, the quenching constant calculated from changes in intensity is 2.2 10¹¹ M ^-1 s^-1. Thus, collisional quenching is not the predominant mechanism of quenching. The absorption spectra of dye in vesicles indicate an important contribution from static complex formation. Förster distance calculations indicate that energy transfer can also occur to a significant extent, with a predicted efficiency of transfer of 34% at a dye concentration of only 1 m M     

THE FLUORESCENCE PROPERTIES OF ORTHO AMINOBENZOATE ANESTHETICS IN DEFINED SOLVENTS AND PHOSPHOLIPID VESICLES

Abstract— The fluorescence properties of three ortho aminobenzoate local anesthetics have been determined in a variety of solvents. Results from these studies have been used to deduce how these drugs interact with phosphatidylcholine bilayers. The emission energy, fluorescence quantum yield and lifetime exhibited a biphasic dependence on solvent polarity. In aprotic solvents, alcohols and in ethanol-water mixtures containing less than 40% water, quantum yields and lifetimes were high (approximately 0.55 and 8.5 ns respectively). In ethanol-water mixtures containing >40% water, the strong fluorescence quenching was primarily due to an increase in the rate of non-radiative deactivation of the excited state. Both the radiative ( k_r ) and non-radiative ( k_nr ) rate constants show a biphasic dependence on solvent polarity. These studies suggest the presence of two singlet excited states for these molecules, a polar singlet excited state, S_1-p and a charge transfer excited state, S_1-ct with the latter predominating in ethanol-water mixture containing >40% water. In egg phosphatidylcholine bilayers, the fluorescence, lifetime and quantum yield are consistent with the view that these drugs are localized within the lipid head group region where the charge-transfer excited state can be stabilized by intermolecular hydrogen bonding.     

ELECTRON TRANSFER REACTIONS OCCURRING UPON LASER FLASH PHOTOLYSIS OF PHOSPHOLIPID BILAYER SYSTEMS CONTAINING CHLOROPHYLL,BENZOQUINONE AND CYTOCHROME c-I. NEGATIVELY-CHARGED VESICLES*

Abstract— In negatively-charged lipid bilayer vesicles prepared in deionized water from egg phosphatidylcholine and 25 mol % of α-eleostearic acid, and containing chlorophyll a, benzoquinone, and cytochrome c, primary electron transfer after a laser flash occurred principally from chlorophyll triplet to benzoquinone, and to a smaller extent from chlorophyll triplet to oxidized cytochrome c. Several secondary electron transfer reactions occurred subsequent to this. The most rapid of these was electron transfer from reduced cytochrome c, which was bound to the outer surface of the negatively-charged vesicle, to chlorophyll cation radical (k= 3.9 times 10³ s^-1). Subsequent to this, the cation radical was reduced by benzoquinone anion radical (k= 1.6 times 10² s^-1>) and bound oxidized cytochrome c was reduced by the remaining anion radical which was expelled into the aqueous phase by the negative charge on the vesicle surface. This latter reaction occurred at the membrane-solution interface with an observed rate constant (k= 60 s^-1) two orders of magnitude smaller than cytochrome oxidation. Net reduced cytochrome c was produced in this process. The reduced cytochrome c was slowly reoxidized by benzoquinone (k= 17 s^-1) and the system was returned to its original state. When the vesicle system was made slightly basic by adding tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane, the rates of both the reverse electron transfer between chlorophyll cation radical and benzoquinone anion radical (k= 5 times 10² s^-1) and the oxidation of reduced cytochrome c by chlorophyll cation radical (k= 9.4 times 10³ s^-1) were accelerated. The rate of reduction of oxidized cytochrome c by benzoquinone anion radical remained approximately the same.     

A COMPARISON OF THERMALLY INDUCED CHANGES IN SONICATED PHOSPHOLIPID AND SURFACTANT VESICLES BY MEANS OF INTRA-MOLECULAR EXCIMER-FORMING PROBE

Abstract The molecule (1,l'-dipyrenyl)-methyl ether (dipyme) was used for monitoring the bilayer fluidity of surfactant and sonicated phospholipid vesicles. In the latter systems, the observed transition temperatures ( Tc ) are identical with those found by different methods. Surfactant vesicles prepared from dioctadecyldimethylammonium bromide (DODAB) and dihexadecylphosphate (DHP) molecules manifest a similar fluidity of their bilayers as those of sonicated phospholipid vesicles below their Tc. However, unlike in phospholipid vesicles, there was no significant change of the bilayer structure above Tc observed in surfactant vesicles. DHP vesicles formed in pure water provide a different solubilization site for dipyme than those prepared in a buffer solution. Such sites are characterized by a relatively high local concentration of the probe and the appearance of the blue shifted spectrum of the excimer.     

ELECTRON TRANSFER REACTIONS OCCURRING UPON LASER FLASH PHOTOLYSIS OF PHOSPHOLIPID BILAYER SYSTEMS CONTAINING CHLOROPHYLL,BENZOQUINONE AND CYTOCHROME c-II. ELECTRICALLY NEUTRAL AND POSITIVELY-CHARGED VESICLES*

Abstract— The primary and secondary electron transfer reactions which occurred upon laser flash photolysis of electrically neutral and positively-charged lipid bilayer vesicles containing chlorophyll, benzoquinone and cytochrome c were determined by time-resolved difference spectral and kinetic measurements, and compared with previous results obtained with negatively-charged vesicles (Y. Fang and G. Tollin, Photochem. Photobiol. 1988). The extent to which oxidized cytochrome c could function as an electron acceptor from triplet state chlorophyll, and reduced cytochrome c could act as an electron donor to chlorophyll cation radical, decreased from negatively-charged to electrically neutral to positively-charged vesicles, in agreement with expectations based on changes in the ability of cytochrome c to bind to the bilayer. In all three types of vesicles, cytochrome c reduction by benzoquinone anion radical occurred in the aqueous phase.     

CHLOROPHYLL PHOTOSENSITIZED ELECTRON TRANSFER IN PHOSPHOLIPID VESICLE SYSTEMS: COMPARISON OF INSIDE-OUTSIDE ASYMMETRY BETWEEN LARGE AND SMALL UNILAMELLAR VESICLES*

Abstract— We have determined the chlorophyll triplet quenching efficiencies, the chlorophyll cation radical yields and the conversion efficiencies of chlorophyll triplet to radical in large and small unilamellar phosphatidylcholine vesicles (LUV and SUV, respectively) in the presence of electrically-charged electron acceptors (ferricyanide and oxidized cytochrome c) located in either the inner or outer aqueous compartments of the vesicles. Both types of vesicles displayed inside-outside asymmetry, although the properties were reversed. Triplet quenching in SUV was more efficient when ferricyanide was located within the vesicle interior, whereas the reverse was true in LUV. When ferricyanide was located on the outside of the vesicles, the extent of triplet quenching in LUV was about two times that in SUV and the amount of cation radical formed in LUV was about two times that in SUV. Under these conditions, the conversion efficiencies of chlorophyll triplet to radical were 12.2% for LUV and 8.5% for SUV. With cytochrome c as an electron acceptor in negatively charged vesicles (25 mol per cent dixhexadecylphosphate incorporated) similar results were obtained. Again, the triplet quenching and radical yield inside-outside asymmetry properties were reversed between the two types of vesicles, and radical formation efficiencies when cyt c was located outside the vesicles were higher in LUV (11.7%) than in SUV (4.2%). We conclude that the inside-outside asymmetric photochemical behavior of unilamellar phosphatidylcholine vesicles is influenced by factors in addition to the difference in radius of curvature between the inside and outside surfaces. It is suggested that transmembrane electrostatic potentials may be involved. Furthermore, in the present system the properties of LUV were more favorable to photochemical electron transfer product formation than those of SUV.     

STABILIZATION OF SEMIQUINONE INTERMEDIATES IN THE PHOTOREDUCTION OF PHENANTHRENEQUINONE BY COMPLEX FORMATION

Abstract— The yellow color of 9,10-phenanthrenequinone in alcohol solution is bleached under the influence of exciting radiation in a band of wavelengths extending from the ultraviolet to the visible green. The bleaching is due to a photoreduction of the quinone yielding 9,10-dihydroxyphenanthrene. In the presence of certain divalent metal ions, irradiation of the quinoid material results in a blue-green long lived intermediate which may be further photo-reduced to the colorless 9,10-diol. The blue-green photo-intermediate is a cation-semiquinone complex.     

THE PHOTOLYSIS OF TRYPTOPHAN IN THE PRESENCE OF OXYGEN

Abstract— Quantum yields for the destruction of tryptophan by a single 500 J flash in aqueous solution have been determined over the pH range 1–13 in both air-equilibrated and nitrogen-saturated conditions. When these quantum yields are compared with the quantum yields for radical formation and photoejection of electrons, it is found that there is good agreement only for the nitrogen-saturated case. In air-equilibrated solutions of tryptophan, there is a large disparity between the measured degradation quantum yields and those for photoejection of electrons and radical formation. Oxygen, therefore, is playing a major role in the photochemical decomposition and it is proposed that the major reaction which occurs, under normal atmospheric conditions, is the reaction of the lowest triplet excited state of tryptophan with oxygen.
Preliminary photolysis-product distributions against pH are discussed, and indicate that a total of nine major products are formed in the presence of oxygen.     

INTERMEDIATES IN THE ROOM TEMPERATURE FLASH PHOTOLYSIS AND LOW TEMPERATURE PHOTOLYSIS OF PURINE SOLUTIONS

The flash photolysis of purine in acetonitrile and in water at different pH was studied. The transients produced on flash excitation of degassed aqueous solutions have been identified as the triplet excited state, the hydrated electron, a purine radical cation and radical anion on the basis of quenching experiments and comparison to transients observed in low temperature photolysis.     

PHOTOLYSIS OF PHENACYL ESTERS IN A TWO-PHASE SYSTEM

ABSTRACT

Phenacyl esters are useful photoremovable protecting groups for carboxylic acids in organic synthesis and biochemistry. In this work, simple one-pot arrangements of the phenacyl and 2,5-dimethylphenacyl ester photolysis are proposed. The reactions were performed in both the benzene/water two-phase system and in water. Cetyltrimethylammonium bromide was found to increase substantially the efficiency of the deprotection as well as the purity of the products by lowering the interfacial tension between the phases. Utilizing water as a medium significantly reduced the necessity to use environmentally malign organic solvents. The overall yields varied from 72 to 98% depending on the reaction conditions.     

THE PHOTOLYSIS OF CYSTINE IN ACIDIC AQUEOUS SOLUTION

Abstract— Quantum yields of cysteine, ammonia, 1-amino,1'-oxo,2,2'-dithiodipropionicacid (AODT–DPA), alanine, alanine 3-sulphinic acid, cysteic acid, and serine have been determined in aqueous oxygenated and deaerated cystine solutions irradiated with 254 nm radiation. From the effect of methanol, ethanol and propanol-2 on the quantum yields of cysteine, ammonia, AODT-DPA and alanine, it is concluded that (a) the S–S bond is broken with high quantum efficiency, (b) C–S and C–N bonds do not undergo primary photolytic fission, and (c) all the AODT–DPA, but only about 12 per cent of the ammonia, is free-radical in origin. The production of pyruvic acid at the expense of AODT–DPA in irradiated cystine solutions containing alanine provides further evidence that AODT–DPA has free-radical precursors. Reaction schemes are proposed for the radical-induced production of keto acid and ammonia in oxygenated and deaerated solutions.     

IN SITU GENERATION OF PSORALENS BY PHOTOLYSIS OF WATER-SOLDBLE PRECURSORS

Abstract— The poor water solubility of typical photochemotherapeutic psoralens restricts their utility in aqueous solutions and commonly requires the use of organic co-solvents in photobiological studies. This paper describes the preparation of readily water-soluble "pre-psoralens", (Z)-3-[5-(4,6-dimethoxy)benzofuranyl]propenoic acid (3) and (Z)-3-[5-(6,7-dimethoxy)benzofuranyl]propenoic acid (4), and their novel photocyclization in aqueous media to give 5-methoxypsoralen (5-MOP) and 8-methoxypsoralen (8-MOP), respectively. Quantum efficiencies, measured at 308 nm for the cyclization, are 12. 1 × 10^-3 for 3 → 5-MOP and 2.7 × 10^-3 for 4 → 8-MOP. 5-Methoxyisopsoralen (5-MOiP, 5) is a side product from the photolysis of 3. Photocross-linking of calf thymus DNA is effected when the "pre-psoralens" are irradiated with 308 or 355 nm (3 only) light.     

PHOTOLYSIS OF CYSTINE IN THE PRESENCE OF AROMATIC AMINO ACIDS

Se dan evidencias para explicar los distintos rendimientos cuánticos de fotólisis con lux u.v. para distintos residuos de cisteina en lisozima e insulina. En sistemas modelos de mezclas de aminoácidos, el aminoácido triptofano muestra un marcado aumento en el rendimiento cuántico en la fotólisis de la cisteina. La fotosensibilidad de los residuos de cisteina en la lisozima se interpretan usando la conformación terciaria de la enzima la cual provee una relación espacial entre los residuos de triptofano y cisteina.     

PRIMARY PRODUCTS IN THE FLASH PHOTOLYSIS OF TRYPTOPHAN*

There has been considerable interest in the photochemistry of tryptophan in connection with ultraviolet inactivation of enzymes. Earlier flash photolysis work has demonstrated that the hydrated electron (e^-_aq) is an initial product in the irradiation of indole derivatives, accompanied by a longer-lived transient absorption near 500 nm attributed to an aromatic radical species[1–5]. Similar transients were observed in a recent flash photolysis study of lysozyme[6] in which it was proposed that inactivation is a consequence of electron ejection from 1 to 2 essential tryptophan residues in the active center. However, there has been uncertainty concerning the tryptophan radical structure and its relationship to the triplet state and radical spectra reported for tryptophan photolysis in low-temperature rigid media. This note reports a flash photolysis investigation of L-tryptophan (Trp) and 1-Methyl-L-tryptophan (1-MeTrp) undertaken to clarify these points. The flash photolysis apparatus and methods employed are described in Ref. [6].     

A FLASH PHOTOLYSIS STUDY OF INTERMEDIATES IN PHOTOCHEMICAL REACTIONS OF CHLOROPHYLL

Abstract— The photochemical reactions of chlorophyll intermediates in vitro have been studied by the flash photolysis method. The flash excitation of pigment solutions has been shown to involve the population of a chlorophyll triplet state where the oxidation-reduction processes occur. The mechanism and kinetics of pigment triplet decay have been investigated from 20°to — 50°C and the ability of chlorophyll molecules to carry out triplet-triplet energy transfer has been established. The latter phenomenon has been used to show up the role of chlorophyll triplets in the reversible photooxidation reaction with P -quinone. There have been studied initial products of pigment photoreduction with ascorbic acid and phenylhydrazine. Experimental data of the mechanism of the initial oxidation and reduction in chlorophyll photosensitized reactions have been analysed. There have been also obtained the differential spectra of chlorophyll triplets and radicals. A calculation has been made of rate constants for a few elementary reactions.     

SITE-SELECTION SPECTROSCOPY OF CHLOROPHYLL b IN MEMBRANES OF LECITHIN VESICLES AND IN OTHER SOLVENTS

Abstract— Site-selection fluorescence spectra of chlorophyll b in membranes of lecithin vesicles and in the solvents ethanol, n -butanol, n -butyl acetate, 2-methyl tetrahydrofuran and toluene are presented. The spectra in vesicles display zero-phonon lines as pronounced as those in the best organic glasses. The characteristics of the distributions of O—O transition energies and of the electron-phonon couplings allow to infer the position of the chlorophyll molecule in the membrane of vesicles. It is thus found that the chromophore of chlorophyll b is situated in the layer formed by the ester moieties of the lecithins, i. e. close to the surface of the membrane but not in direct contact with the aqueous phase.     

MECHANISM OF FORMATION OF FORMALDEHYDE IN THE FLASH PHOTOLYSIS OF METHYL FORMATE

Abstract —From flash photolyses of methyl formate (HCOOCH₃), d -methyl formate (DCOOCH₃), methyl formate- d ₃ (HCOOCD₃) and fully ***deuterated methyl formate (DCOOCD₃) in the vapour phase at room temperature, the relative efficiencies of the formyl and methoxyl radicals in producing formaldehyde have been determined.     

LASER PHOTOLYSIS STUDIES OF THE REDUCTION OF PARAQUAT CATIONS IN METHANOL

Abstract— A computer-controlled laser photolysis apparatus has been used to investigate the results of photoexcitation of paraquat. cations (PQ²⁺) in methanol solution. The formation of the monoreduced species (PQ⁺) is shown to occur in two processes overall; one is too fast to be resolved from the laser pulse; the second shows first order kinetics with an observed rate constant which is linearly dependent on the paraquat concentration. The natural lifetime of this second precursor to PQ⁺ was measured at 1.4 μs. about ten times longer than the CH₃O'radical which is the anticipated reductant. The identity of this precursor is possibly a radical pair.