Albert Stolow

Cellular Consequences of Copper Complexes Used To Catalyze Bioorthogonal Click Reactions

Copper toxicity is a critical issue in the development of copper-based catalysts for copper(I)-catalyzed azide-alkyne cycloaddition (CuAAC) reactions for applications in living systems. The effects and related toxicity of copper on mammalian cells are dependent on the ligand environment. Copper complexes can be highly toxic, can induce changes in cellular metabolism, and can be rapidly taken up by cells, all of which can affect their ability to function as catalysts for CuAAC in living systems. Herein, we have evaluated the effects of a number of copper complexes that are typically used to catalyze CuAAC reactions on four human cell lines by measuring mitochondrial activity based on the metabolism of 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) to study toxicity, inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry to study cellular uptake, and coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS) microscopy to study effects on lipid metabolism. We find that ligand environment around copper influences all three parameters. Interestingly, for the Cu(II)-bis-L-histidine complex (Cu(his)(2)), cellular uptake and metabolic changes are observed with no toxicity after 72 h at micromolar concentrations. Furthermore, we show that under conditions where other copper complexes kill human hepatoma cells, Cu(I)-L-histidine is an effective catalyst for CuAAC labeling of live cells following metabolic incorporation of an alkyne-labeled sugar (Ac(4)ManNAl) into glycosylated proteins expressed on the cell surface. This result suggests that Cu(his)(2) or derivatives thereof have potential for in vivo applications where toxicity as well as catalytic activity are critical factors for successful bioconjugation reactions.

Electronic relaxation dynamics in DNA and RNA bases studied by time-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy

We present femtosecond time-resolved photoelectron spectra (TRPES) of the DNA and RNA bases adenine, cytosine, thymine, and uracil in a molecular beam. We discuss in detail the analysis of our adenine TRPES spectra. A global two-dimensional fit of the time and energy-resolved spectra allows for reliable separation of photoelectron spectra from several channels, even for overlapping bands. Ab initio calculations of Koopmans’ ionization correlations and He(I) photoelectron spectra aid the assignment of electronically excited states involved in the relaxation dynamics. Based upon our results, we propose the following mechanism for electronic relaxation dynamics in adenine: Pump wavelengths of 250, 267 and 277 nm lead to initial excitation of the bright S2(pp*) state. Close to the band origin (277 nm), the lifetime is several picoseconds. At higher vibronic levels, i.e. 250 and 267 nm excitation, rapid internal conversion (t < 50 fs) populates the lower lying S1(np*) state which has a lifetime of 750 fs. At 267 nm, we found evidence for an additional channel which is consistent with the dissociative S3(ps*) state, previously proposed as an ultrafast relaxation pathway from S2(pp*). We present preliminary results from TRPES measurements of the other DNA bases at 250 nm excitation.

Discerning vibronic molecular dynamics using time-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy

Dynamic processes at the molecular level occur on ultrafast time scales and are often associated with structural as well as electronic changes. These can in principle be studied by time-resolved scattering and spectroscopic methods, respectively. In polyatomic molecules, however, excitation results in the rapid mixing of vibrational and electronic motions, which induces both charge redistribution and energy flow in the molecule. This ‘vibronic’ or ‘non-adiabatic’ coupling is a key step in photochemical and photobiological processes and underlies many of the concepts of molecular electronics, but it obscures the notion of distinct and readily observable vibrational and electronic states. Here we report time-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy measurements that distinguish vibrational dynamics from the coupled electronic population dynamics, associated with the photo-induced internal conversion, in a linear unsaturated hydrocarbon chain. The vibrational resolution of our photoelectron spectra allows for a direct observation of the underlying nuclear dynamics, demonstrating that it is possible to obtain detailed insights into ultrafast non-adiabatic processes.

Time-Resolved Molecular Frame Dynamics of Fixed-in-Space CS2 Molecules

Random orientation of molecules within a sample leads to blurred observations of chemical reactions studied from the laboratory perspective. Methods developed for the dynamic imaging of molecular structures and processes struggle with this, as measurements are optimally made in the molecular frame. We used laser alignment to transiently fix carbon disulfide molecules in space long enough to elucidate, in the molecular reference frame, details of ultrafast electronic-vibrational dynamics during a photochemical reaction. These three-dimensional photoelectron imaging results, combined with ongoing efforts in molecular alignment and orientation, presage a wide range of insights obtainable from time-resolved studies in the molecular frame.

Optimally chirped multimodal CARS microscopy based on a single Ti:sapphire oscillator

We demonstrate high performance coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS) microscopy of live cells and tissues with user-variable spectral resolution and broad Raman tunability (2500 - 4100 cm(-1)), using a femtosecond Ti:Sapphire pump and photonic crystal fiber output for the broadband synchronized Stokes pulse. Spectral chirp of the fs laser pulses was a user-variable parameter for optimization in a spectral focusing implementation of multimodal CARS microscopy. High signal-to-noise, high contrast multimodal imaging of live cells and tissues was achieved with pixel dwell times of 2-8 micros and low laser powers (< 30 mW total).

Primary processes underlying the photostability of isolated DNA bases: adenine.

The UV chromophores in DNA are the nucleic bases themselves, and it is their photophysics and photochemistry that govern the intrinsic photostability of DNA. Because stability is related to the conversion of dangerous electronic to less-dangerous vibrational energy, we study ultrafast electronic relaxation processes in the DNA base adenine. We excite adenine, isolated in a molecular beam, to its ππ* state and follow its relaxation dynamics using femtosecond time-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy. To discern which processes are important on which timescales, we compare adenine with 9-methyl adenine. Methylation blocks the site of the much-discussed πσ* state that had been thought, until now, minor. Time-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy reveals that, although adenine and 9-methyl adenine show almost identical timescales for the processes involved, the decay pathways are quite different. Importantly, we confirm that in adenine at 267-nm excitation, the πσ* state plays a major role. We discuss these results in the context of recent experimental and theoretical studies on adenine, proposing a model that accounts for all known results, and consider the relationship between these studies and electron-induced damage in DNA.

Time-Resolved Dynamics in N2O4 Probed Using High Harmonic Generation

The attosecond time-scale electron-recollision process that underlies high harmonic generation has uncovered extremely rapid electronic dynamics in atoms and diatomics. We showed that high harmonic generation can reveal coupled electronic and nuclear dynamics in polyatomic molecules. By exciting large amplitude vibrations in dinitrogen tetraoxide, we showed that tunnel ionization accesses the ground state of the ion at the outer turning point of the vibration but populates the first excited state at the inner turning point. This state-switching mechanism is manifested as bursts of high harmonic light that is emitted mostly at the outer turning point. Theoretical calculations attribute the large modulation to suppressed emission from the first excited state of the ion. More broadly, these results show that high harmonic generation and strong-field ionization in polyatomic molecules undergoing bonding or configurational changes involve the participation of multiple molecular orbitals.

Polyatomic molecules in strong laser fields: Nonadiabatic multielectron dynamics

We report the observation and characterization of a new nonresonant strong field ionization mechanism in polyatomic molecules: Nonadiabatic multi-electron (NME) dynamics. The strong field response of a given molecule depends on important properties such as molecular geometry and bonding, the path length of delocalized electrons and/or ionization potential as well as on basic laser pulse parameters such as wavelength and intensity. Popular quasi-static tunnelling models of strong field molecular ionization, based upon the adiabatic response of a single active electron, are demonstrated to be inadequate when electron delocalization is important. The NME ionization mechanism greatly affects molecular ionization, its fragmentation and its energetics. In addition, multi-electron effects are shown to be present even in the adiabatic long wavelength limit.

Femtosecond wave‐packet dynamics studied by time‐resolved zero‐kinetic energy photoelectron spectroscopy

Femtosecond pump–probe zero‐kinetic‐energy (ZEKE) photoelectron spectroscopy is studied using the known wave‐packet dynamics of I2 (B state). The 340 fs wave‐packet period, wave‐packet dephasing and rephasing are observed in the ZEKE signal. The effect of various laser and ZEKE parameters on the wave‐packet dynamics is discussed.

The Multielectron Ionization Dynamics Underlying Attosecond Strong-Field Spectroscopies

Which Electron Went Where? When strong laser fields pull electrons out of atoms or molecules and then send them careening back, the light released on recollision can offer direct insight into local attosecond-scale behavior, or it can be processed into attosecond pulses for probing other samples. When polyatomic molecules are involved, however, it is not always clear which of their electrons are being manipulated by the laser field. Boguslavskiy et al. (p. 1336; see the Perspective by Gühr) present a technique for exploring this question. Simultaneous tracking of electrons and fragment molecular ions during strong-field ionization of hydrocarbons revealed the different pathways involved. A spectrometric method tracks the different paths along which strong laser fields pull electrons out of polyatomic molecules. Subcycle strong-field ionization (SFI) underlies many emerging spectroscopic probes of atomic or molecular attosecond electronic dynamics. Extending methods such as attosecond high harmonic generation spectroscopy to complex polyatomic molecules requires an understanding of multielectronic excitations, already hinted at by theoretical modeling of experiments on atoms, diatomics, and triatomics. Here, we present a direct method which, independent of theory, experimentally probes the participation of multiple electronic continua in the SFI dynamics of polyatomic molecules. We use saturated (n-butane) and unsaturated (1,3-butadiene) linear hydrocarbons to show how subcycle SFI of polyatomics can be directly resolved into its distinct electronic-continuum channels by above-threshold ionization photoelectron spectroscopy. Our approach makes use of photoelectron-photofragment coincidences, suiting broad classes of polyatomic molecules.