pheophytin-a and acetonitrile

The interaction of the monomeric chlorophyll Q-band electronic transition with solvents of differing physical-chemical properties is investigated through two-dimensional electronic spectroscopy (2DES). Chlorophyll constitutes the key chromophore molecule in light harvesting complexes. It is well-known that the surrounding protein in the light harvesting complex fine-tunes chlorophyll electronic transitions to optimize energy transfer. Therefore, an understanding of the influence of the environment on the monomeric chlorophyll electronic transitions is important. The Q-band 2DES is inhomogeneous at early times, particularly in hydrogen bonding polar solvents, but also in nonpolar solvents like cyclohexane. Interestingly this inhomogeneity persists for long times, even up to the nanosecond time scale in some solvents. The reshaping of the 2DES occurs over multiple time scales and was assigned mainly to spectral diffusion. At early times the reshaping is Gaussian-like, hinting at a strong solvent reorganization effect. The temporal evolution of the 2DES response was analyzed in terms of a Brownian oscillator model. The spectral densities underpinning the Brownian oscillator fitting were recovered for the different solvents. The absorption spectra and Stokes shift were also properly described by this model. The extent and nature of inhomogeneous broadening was a strong function of solvent, being larger in H-bonding and viscous media and smaller in nonpolar solvents. The fastest spectral reshaping components were assigned to solvent dynamics, modified by interactions with the solute.

Topics: Acetone; Acetonitriles; Chlorophyll; Chlorophyll A; Cyclohexanes; Ethylene Glycol; Hydrogen Bonding; Methanol; Models, Chemical; Solvents; Spectrum Analysis; Viscosity

A theoretical analysis of chlorophyll a (Chla) hydration processes in aqueous organic solvents has been carried out by means of quantum chemistry calculations. A detailed knowledge of the thermodynamics of these processes is fundamental in order to better understand the organization of chlorophyll molecules in vivo, specifically the structure of chlorophyll pairs in photosystems I and II. In the present work, we assumed a Chla model in which the phytyl chain is replaced by a methyl group. Calculations were performed at the B3LYP/6-31G(d) level corrected for basis set superposition errors and dispersion interaction energy. This computational scheme was previously shown to provide data close to MP2/6-311++(2d,2p) results. Solvents effects were taken into account using either continuum (for nonpolar solvents) or discrete-continuum (for polar coordinating solvents) methods. In the latter case, we first examined the structure of Chla in rigorously dry solutions. Two types of solvents were characterized according to Mg-atom coordination: In type I solvents (acetone, acetonitrile, DMSO), Mg exhibits five-coordination, whereas in type II solvents (THF, pyridine), Mg exhibits six-coordination. Hydration processes are quite dependent on solvent nature. In nonpolar or low-polarity solvents such as cyclohexane or chloroform, hydration is always exothermic and exergonic, despite a large entropy term that strongly opposes hydration. In polar solvents of type II, hydration is quite unfavorable, and essentially no hydrates are expected in these media, except perhaps at very large water concentrations (although, in such a case, the medium cannot be simply described as an organic solvent). In polar solvents of type I, the situation is intermediate, and dihydration is favorable in some cases (acetone, acetonitrile) and unfavorable in others (DMSO). It is interesting to note that first hydration processes in coordinating solvents (of either type I or type II), where a water molecule must displace a solvent molecule coordinated to Mg, exhibit values of DeltaH > 0 and DeltaS > 0, in sharp contrast to first hydration processes in nonpolar media. The present results represent the first theoretical attempt to rationalize the large amount of experimental data on hydration and aggregation of Chla in aqueous organic media that have been accumulated over the past four decades. The data stress, in particular, the key role of Chla dihydrates, a point that has been the object of intense

Topics: Acetonitriles; Algorithms; Chloroform; Chlorophyll; Chlorophyll A; Cyclohexanes; Quantum Theory; Solvents; Thermodynamics; Water

Chlorophyll (Chl) d is a major chlorophyll in a novel oxygenic prokaryote Acaryochloris marina. Here we first report the redox potential of Chl d in vitro. The oxidation potential of Chl d was +0.88 V vs. SHE in acetonitrile; the value was higher than that of Chl a (+0.81 V) and lower than that of Chl b (+0.94 V). The oxidation potential order, Chl b>Chl d>Chl a, can be explained by inductive effect of substituent groups on the conjugated pi-electron system on the macrocycle. Corresponding pheophytins showed the same order; Phe b (+1.25 V)>Phe d (+1.21 V)>Phe a (+1.14 V), but the values were significantly higher than those of Chls, which are rationalized in terms of an electron density decrease in the pi-system by the replacement of magnesium with more electronegative hydrogen. Consequently, oxidation potential of Chl a was found to be the lowest among Chls and Phes. The results will help us to broaden our views on photosystems in A. marina.

Topics: Acetonitriles; Chlorophyll; Chlorophyll A; Cyanobacteria; Dimethylformamide; Electrochemistry; In Vitro Techniques; Models, Chemical; Molecular Structure; Oxidation-Reduction; Petroselinum; Pheophytins; Solvents