Mechanisms of charge separation in bacterial photosynthesis

The physical aspects of the primary charge separation processes in bacterial photosynthesis are discussed. The donor-acceptor model of electron transfer due to participation of protein current states is used. The kinetics of photosynthetic reaction center (PRC ) processes is investigated and the PRC energetic scheme is constructed using the nonequilibrium density matrix method. It is shown that with allowance for the effect of vibrational sublevels of states participating in transitions the theory describes well experimental data.     

Dynamics of primary charge separation in bacterial photosynthesis using the multilevel Redfield–Davies secular approach

We use Redfield's relaxation theory in the Davies formulation to study primary charge separation reactions in bacterial photosynthesis. The specific model studied is the standard one (spin‐boson), with three states for the system, harmonic oscillators for the bath, and linear ohmic system–bath coupling. The Redfield–Davies formulation, which is equivalent to the secular approximation, is Markovian, of second order in system–bath coupling, and is written for the system's density matrix. The approximation does not suffer from any negative probabilities (which appear in the original Redfield approach) and can therefore be used for long‐time processes (20 ps or more here). Our results are in line with previous studies, especially to high bath frequencies. They confirm the usefulness of the Redfield–Davies secular approach as a convenient and simple tool for studying system–bath processes. © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2002     

Accumulative charge separation inspired by photosynthesis

Molecular systems that follow the functional principles of photosynthesis have attracted increasing attention as a method for the direct production of solar fuels. This could give a major carbon-neutral energy contribution to our future society. An outstanding challenge in this research is to couple the light-induced charge separation (which generates a single electron-hole pair) to the multielectron processes of water oxidation and fuel generation. New design considerations are needed to allow for several cycles of photon absorption and charge separation of a single artificial photosystem. Here we demonstrate a molecular system with a regenerative photosensitizer that shows two successive events of light-induced charge separation, leading to high-yield accumulation of redox equivalents on single components without sacrificial agents.     

Trapped water molecule in the charge separation of a bacterial reaction center

Low-frequency oscillations in the absorption spectrum at 1020 nm, connected to the primary charge separation process in Rhodobacter sphaeroides, have been shown by Yakovlev et al. to be caused by rotational motion of an interstitial water molecule called "water-A". The same water molecule was shown by Potter et al. to increase the rate of charge separation by a factor of 8. We have carried out geometry optimization of water-A and its nearest atoms in the protein pocket, using density functional theory (DFT). There are strong hydrogen bonds to the axial imidazol group of the B part of the special pair (P=PAPB) and to the keto carbonyl group of ring V of the accessory chlorophyll (BA). Rotation of water-A is thus impossible in the electronic ground state. We have tried to support our speculations on other possible mechanisms by calculations. The P(+)BA(-) charge transfer state is stabilized by proton transfer from water-A and simultaneous proton transfer from the axial group of PB to water-A. After double proton transfer the hydrogen bond to the keto group disappears whereby a possibility opens up for almost free water rotation. The results therefore would explain the 32 cm(-1) oscillation of Yakovlev et al. The proposed mechanism assumes, however, that the general assumption that the activation energy disappears in the primary charge separation of bacterial photosynthesis, holds also for this special case.     

Theoretical calculations of kinetics of the radical pair PF state in bacterial photosynthesis

Calculations of the time evolution of the population in the transient radical pair P^F state and the magnetic field dependence of the effective decay time are presented. A general treatment is proposed to include (1) unequal decay rates k_T and ^kS for the triplet and the singlet, (2) the anisotropic electron — electron dipolar interaction and (3) the multiple nuclear hyperfine interaction. It is found that the dipolar interaction and the exchange interaction have a strong impact on the field dependence of the effective decay time. In addition, the time evolution of the P^F population is found to be quasi-exponential for k_T >k₅, and the effective decay rate is determined much more by the singlet decay rate that the triplet decay rate as long as dominant spin-spin interactions are present. The decay curve becomes non-exponential as k_S becomes larger than k_T.     

Excitation wavelength dependence of primary charge separation in reaction centers from Rhodobacter sphaeroides

The excitation wavelength dependence of the initial electron transfer rate in both wild type and mutant reaction centers from Rhodobacter sphaeroides has been studied between 840 and 920 nm as a function of temperature (10-295 K). The dynamics of primary charge separation show no resolvable excitation wavelength dependence at room temperature over this spectral range. A small variation in rate with excitation wavelength is observed at cryogenic temperatures. The low temperature results cannot be explained in terms either of a nonequilibrium model that assumes that the primary charge separation starts from a vibrationally hot state or a model that assumes a static inhomogeneous distribution of electron transfer driving forces. Instead these results are consistent with the concept that primary charge separation kinetics are controlled by the dynamics of protein conformational diffusion.     

Platinum chromophore-based systems for photoinduced charge separation: a molecular design approach for artificial photosynthesis

Photoinduced charge separation is a fundamental step in photochemical energy conversion. In the design of molecularly based systems for light-to-chemical energy conversion, this step is studied through the construction of two- and three-component systems (dyads and triads) having suitable electron donor and acceptor moieties placed at specific positions on a charge-transfer chromophore. The most extensively studied chromophores in this regard are ruthenium(II) tris(diimine) systems with a common 3MLCT excited state, as well as related ruthenium(II) bis(terpyridyl) systems. This Forum contribution focuses on dyads and triads of an alternative chromophore, namely, platinum(II) di- and triimine systems having acetylide ligands. These d8 chromophores all possess a 3MLCT excited state in which the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital is a pi orbital on the heterocyclic aromatic ligand. The excited-state energies of these Pt(II) chromophores are generally higher than those found for the ruthenium(II) tris(diimine) systems, and the directionality of the charge transfer is more certain. The first platinum diimine bis(arylacetylide) triad, constructed by attaching phenothiazene donors to the arylacetylide ligands and a nitrophenyl acceptor to 5-ethynylphenanthroline of the chromophore, exhibited a charge-separated state of 75-ns duration. The first Pt(tpy)(arylacetylide)+-based triad contains a trimethoxybenzamide donor and a pyridinium acceptor and has been structurally characterized. The triad has an edge-to-edge separation between donor and acceptor fragments of 27.95 Angstroms. However, while quenching of the emission is complete for this system, transient absorption (TA) studies reveal that charge transfer does not move onto the pyridinium acceptor. A new set of triads described in detail here and having the formula [Pt(NO2phtpy)(p-C triple-bond C-C6H4CH2(PTZ-R)](PF6), where NO2phtpy = 4'-{4-[2-(4-nitrophenyl)vinyl]phenyl}-2,2';6',2'-terpyridine and PTZ = phenothiazine with R = H, OMe, possess an unsaturated linkage between the chromophore and a nitrophenyl acceptor. While the parent chromophore [Pt(ttpy)(C triple-bond CC6H5)]PF6 is brightly luminescent in a fluid solution at 298 K, the triads exhibit complete quenching of the emission, as do the related donor-chromophore (D-C) dyads. Electrochemically, the triads and D-C dyads exhibit a quasi-reversible oxidation wave corresponding to the PTZ ligand, while the R = H triad and related C-A dyad display a facile quasi-reversible reduction assignable to the acceptor. TA spectroscopy shows that one of the triads possesses a long-lived charge-separated state of approximately 230 ns.     

The importance of a hot-sequential mechanism in triplet-state formation by charge recombination in reaction centers of bacterial photosynthesis

In photosynthesis, pigment-excitation energies in the antenna system produced by light harvesting are transferred among antenna pigments toward the core antenna, where they are captured by the reaction center and initially fixed in the form of a charge separation. Primary charge separation between an oxidized special pair (P⁺) and a reduced bacteriopheohytin (H⁻) is occasionally intervened by recombination, and a spin-triplet state (³P*) is formed on P in the bacterial reaction center. The ³P* state is harmful to bio-organisms, inducing the formation of the highly damaging singlet oxygen species. Therefore, understanding the ³P*-formation mechanism is important. The ³P* formation is mediated by a state |m〉 of intermediate charge separation between P and the accessory chlorophyll, which is located between P and H. It will be shown theoretically in the present work that at room temperature, not only the mechanism of superexchange by quantum-mechanical virtual mediation at |m〉, but also a hot-sequential mechanism contributes to the mediation. In the latter, although |m〉 is produced as a real state, the final state ³P* is quickly formed during thermalization of phonons in the protein matrix in |m〉. In the former, the final state is formed more quickly before dephasing-thermalization of phonons in |m〉. ³P* is unistep formed from the charge-separated state in the both mechanisms.     

Entropic changes control the charge separation process in triads mimicking photosynthetic charge separation

Laser-induced optoacoustic spectroscopy (LIOAS) measurements with carotene-porphyrin-acceptor "supermolecular" triads (C-P-A, with A = C60, a naphthoquinone NQ, and a naphthoquinone derivative, Q) were carried out with the purpose of analyzing the thermodynamic parameters for the formation and decay of the respective long-lived charge separated state C*+-P-A*-. The novel procedure of inclusion of the benzonitrile solutions of the triads in Triton X-100 micelle nanoreactors suspended in water permitted the separation of the enthalpic and structural volume change contributions to the LIOAS signals, by performing the measurements in the range 4-20 degrees C. Contractions of 4.2, 5.7, and 4.2 mL mol-1 are concomitant with the formation of C*+-P-A*- for A = C60, Q and NQ, respectively. These contractions are mostly attributed to solvent movements and possible conformational changes upon photoinduced electron transfer, due to the attraction of the oppositely charged ends, as a consequence of the giant dipole moment developed in these compounds upon charge separation ( approximately 110 D). The estimations combining the calculated free energies and the LIOAS-derived enthalpy changes indicate that entropy changes, attributed to solvent movements, control the process of electron transfer for the three triads, especially for C-P-C60 and C-P-Q. The heat released during the decay of 1 mol of charge separated state (CS) is much smaller than the respective enthalpy content obtained from the LIOAS measurements for the CS formation. This is attributed to the production of long-lived energy storing species upon CS decay.     

Effect of the relaxation of high-frequency vibrational modes on the kinetics of charge separation and recombination

The processes of intramolecular electron transfer from the second excited electron state accompanied by superfast reverse transfer to the first excited state are studied. The kinetics of the populations of the first and second excited states, along with that the charge-separated states, is calculated within the generalized stochastic model, taking into account the reorganization of the medium and intramolecular high-frequency vibrations. It is shown that variations in the relaxation rate of the high-frequency vibrational modes can change the population of the quenching products by a factor of two to three. It is established that in the case of the weak exothermicity of the charge separation process, the population of the charge-separated states declines upon an increase in the vibrational relaxation rate, while the population of the first excited state increases; in the region of high exothermicity, these dependences change to ones that are opposite. To reveal the scales of these effects in real systems, the kinetics of the photo-induced processes in the zinc-porphyrin derivatives, including electron-acceptor imide groups covalently coupled with porphyrin rings, are calculated. It is shown that the results from calculating the kinetics of the population of the first and the second excited states agree well with the experimental data on the kinetics of the fluorescence of these states. The absolute values of the population of the charge-separated state and the first excited state are determined. The key role of the hot electron transitions that occur in parallel with the relaxation of the medium and intramolecular vibrations in the considered process is shown.     

Low-temperature electron transfer in bacterial photosynthesis

The role of a continuous medium frequency distribution of the Debye form in low-temperature thermal electron transfer processes is investigated. When the electrons are strongly coupled to the medium (the medium reorganization energy is 0.2–0.4 eV) a temperature-independent rate constant is predicted from zero temperature up to over 100 K and with far-infrared Debye frequencies. This is compatible with the experimentally observed low-temperature branch in the Arrhenius relationship of the electron transfer from cytochrome c to excited bacteriochlorophyll, Bch⁺, in bacterial photosynthesis. However, in order to reproduce the high-temperature branch, of finite activation energy, additional activation of intramolecular modes of higher frequencies must be assumed. An intramolecular mode of a coupling constant of 8–9 and a frequency of about 400 cm^?1 can account for this branch. Finally, the estimated electron exchange integral is about 10^?4 eV, indicating that the process is strongly a none diabetic.     

Efficient charge separation in porphyrin-fullerene-ligand complexes

Photoprocesses associated with the complexation of a pyridine-functionalized C60 fullerene derivative to ruthenium- and zinc-tetraphenylporphyrins (tpp) have been studied by time-resolved optical and transient EPR spectroscopies. It has been found that upon irradiation in toluene, a highly efficient triplet-triplet energy transfer governs the deactivation of the photoexcited [Ru(tpp)], while electron transfer (ET) from the porphyrin to the fullerene prevails in polar solvents. Complexation of [Zn(tpp)] by the fullerene derivative is reversible and, following excitation of the [Zn(tpp)], gives rise to very efficient charge separation. In fluid polar solvents such as THF and benzonitrile, radical-ion pairs (RPs) are generated both by intramolecular ET inside the complex and by intermolecular ET in the uncomplexed form. Charge-separated states have lifetimes of about 10 micros in THF and several hundred of microseconds in benzonitrile at room temperature.     

Stable photoinduced charge separation in heptacene

Heptacene, generated in inert gas matrices by photobisdecarbonylation of a bridged alpha-diketone precursor, undergoes ionization into radical anion and radical cation upon UV irradiation.     

Photoinduced charge separation in titania nanotubes

The photocatalytic one-electron oxidation reaction of an aromatic compound during UV light irradiation of titania nanotubes and nanoparticles was investigated using time-resolved diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. Remarkably long-lived radical cations of the aromatic compound and trapped electrons were observed for the nanotubes when compared to those for nanoparticles. The influences of the morphology on the one-electron oxidation process of an aromatic compound adsorbed on the surface were discussed in terms of the charge recombination dynamics between the radical cation and electrons in TiO2.     

Self-assembling porphyrins and phthalocyanines for photoinduced charge separation and charge transport

Large π-conjugated compounds are promising building blocks for organic thin-film electronics such as organic light-emitting diodes, organic field-effect transistors, and organic photovoltaics. Utilization of porphyrins and phthalocyanines for this purpose is highly fascinating because of their excellent electric, photophysical, and electrochemical properties as well as intense self-assembling abilities arising from π-π stacking interactions. This paper focuses on fundamental aspects of self-assembled structures that have been obtained from porphyrin and phthalocyanine building blocks and more complex composites for photoinduced charge separation and charge transport toward the potential applications to organic thin-film electronics.     

Polarization effects and charge separation in AgCl-water clusters

Structural, energetic, vibrational, and electronic properties of salt ion pairs (AgCl and NaCl) in water (W) clusters were investigated by density functional theory. In agreement with recent theoretical studies of NaCl-water clusters, structures where the salt ion pair is separated by solvent molecules or solvent separated ion pair (SSIP) were found in AgCl-W(6) and AgCl-W(8) aggregates. Our results indicate that for small AgCl-water clusters, contact ion pair (CIP) structures are energetically more stable than SSIP, whereas an opposite tendency was observed for NaCl-water clusters. In comparison with CIP, SSIP are characterized by extensive electronic density reorganization, reflecting enhanced polarization effects. A major difference between AgCl-water and NaCl-water CIP aggregates concerns charge transfer. In AgCl-water CIP clusters, charge is transferred from the solvent (water) to the ion pair. However, in NaCl-water CIP clusters charge is transferred from the ion pair to the water molecules. The electronic density reorganization in the aggregates was also discussed through the analysis of electronic density difference isosurfaces. Time dependent density functional theory calculations show that upon complexation of AgCl and NaCl with water molecules, excitation energies are significantly blueshifted relative to the isolated ion pairs ( approximately 2 eV for AgCl-W(8) SSIP). In keeping with results for NaI-water clusters [Peslherbe et al., J. Phys. Chem. A 104, 4533 (2000)], electronic oscillator strengths of transitions to excited states are weaker for SSIP than for CIP structures. However, our results also suggest that the difference between excitation energies and oscillator strengths of CIP and SSIP structures may decrease with increasing cluster size.     

Energetics and kinetics of the reaction of HOCO with hydrogen atoms

The potential energy surface for the reaction of HOCO radicals with hydrogen atoms has been explored using the CCSD(T)/aug-cc-pVQZ ab initio method. Results show that the reaction occurs via a formic acid (HOC(O)H) intermediate, and produces two types of products: H(2)O+CO and H(2)+CO(2). Reaction enthalpies (0 K) are obtained as -102.0 kcalmol for the H(2)+CO(2) products, and -92.7 kcalmol for H(2)O+CO. Along the reaction pathways, there exists a nearly late transition state for each product channel. However, the transition states locate noticeably below the reactant asymptote. Direct ab initio dynamics calculations are also carried out for studying the kinetics of the H+HOCO reaction. At room temperature, the rate coefficient is predicted to be 1.07x10(-10)cm(3) molec(-1) s(-1) with a negligible activation energy E(a)=0.06 kcalmol, and the branching ratios are estimated to be 0.87 for H(2)+CO(2), and 0.13 for H(2)O+CO. In contrast, the product branching ratios have a strong T dependence. The branching ratio for H(2)O+CO could increase to 0.72 at T=1000 K.     

Energetics and molecular biology of active transport in bacterial membrane vesicles.

Bacterial membrane vesicles retain the same sidedness as the membrane in the intact cell and catalyze active transport of many solutes by a respiration-dependent mechanism that does not involve the generation of utilization of ATP or other high-energy phosphate compounds. In E. coli vesicles, most of these transport systems are coupled to an electrochemical gradient of protons (deltamuH+, interior negative and alkaline) generated primarily by the oxidation of D-lactate or reduced phenazine methosulfate via a membrane-bound respiratory chain. Oxygen or, under appropriate conditions, fumarate or nitrate can function as terminal electron acceptors, and the site at which deltamuH+ is generated is located before cytochrome b1 in the respiratory chain. Certain (N-dansyl)aminoalkyl-beta-D-galactopyranosides (Dns-gal) and N(2-nitro-4-azidophenyl)aminoalkyl 1-thio-beta-D-galactopyranosides (APG) are competitive inhibitors of lactose transport but are not transported themselves. Various fluorescence techniques, direct binding assays, and photoinactivation studies demonstrate that the great bulk of the lac carrier protein (ca. 95%) does not bind ligand in the absence of energy-coupling. Upon generation of a deltamuH+ (interior negative and alkaline), binding of Dns-gal and APG-dependent photoinactivation are observed. The data indicate that energy is coupled to the initial step in the transport process, and suggest that the lac carrier protein may be negatively charged.