Jorge Peon

Biological water at the protein surface: Dynamical solvation probed directly with femtosecond resolution

Biological water at the interface of proteins is critical to their equilibrium structures and enzyme function and to phenomena such as molecular recognition and protein–protein interactions. To actually probe the dynamics of water structure at the surface, we must examine the protein itself, without disrupting the native structure, and the ultrafast elementary processes of hydration. Here we report direct study, with femtosecond resolution, of the dynamics of hydration at the surface of the enzyme protein Subtilisin Carlsberg, whose single Trp residue (Trp-113) was used as an intrinsic biological fluorescent probe. For the protein, we observed two well separated dynamical solvation times, 0.8 ps and 38 ps, whereas in bulk water, we obtained 180 fs and 1.1 ps. We also studied a covalently bonded probe at a separation of ≈7 Å and observed the near disappearance of the 38-ps component, with solvation being practically complete in (time constant) 1.5 ps. The degree of rigidity of the probe (anisotropy decay) and of the water environment (protein vs. micelle) was also studied. These results show that hydration at the surface is a dynamical process with two general types of trajectories, those that result from weak interactions with the selected surface site, giving rise to bulk-type solvation (≈1 ps), and those that have a stronger interaction, enough to define a rigid water structure, with a solvation time of 38 ps, much slower than that of the bulk. At a distance of ≈7 Å from the surface, essentially all trajectories are bulk-type. The theoretical framework for these observations is discussed.

Ultrafast surface hydration dynamics and expression of protein functionality: α-Chymotrypsin

We report studies of hydration dynamics at the surface of the enzyme protein bovine pancreatic α-chymotrypsin. The probe is the well known 1-anilinonaphthalene-8-sulfonate, which binds selectively in the native state of the protein, not the molten globule, as shown by x-ray crystallography. With femtosecond time resolution, we examined the hydration dynamics at two pHs, when the protein is physiologically in the inactive state (pH 3.6) or the active state (pH 6.7); the global structure and the binding site remain the same. The hydration correlation function, C(t), whose decay is governed by the rotational and translational motions of water molecules at the site, shows the behavior observed in this laboratory for other proteins, Subtilisin Carlsberg and Monellin, using the intrinsic amino acid tryptophan as a probe for surface hydration. However, the time scales and amplitudes vary drastically at the two pHs. For the inactive protein state, C(t) decays with an ultrafast component, close to bulk-type behavior, but 50% of the C(t) decays at a much slower rate, τ = 43 ps. In contrast, for the active state, the ultrafast component becomes dominant (90%) and the slow component changes to a faster decay, τ = 28 ps. These results indicate that in the active state water molecules in the hydration layer around the site have a high degree of mobility, whereas in the inactive state the water is more rigidly structured. For the substrate–enzyme complex, the function and dynamics at the probe site are correlated, and the relevance to the enzymatic action is clear.

Ultrafast Intersystem Crossing in 1-Nitronaphthalene. An Experimental and Computational Study

Previous studies have established that the major pathway for the first singlet excited state of 1-nitronaphthalene is intersystem crossing to the triplet manifold. In this contribution we present determinations of the decay of the S1 state of this compound in several solvents to establish the time scale of the multiplicity change as a function of the polarity and hydrogen-bonding ability of the solvent environment. The measurements were made with the femtosecond frequency up-conversion technique to follow the weak spontaneous molecular emission which precedes triplet formation. Our results show that in all environments the S1 lifetime is 100 fs or less, making 1-nitronaphthalene the organic compound with the fastest multiplicity change ever measured. We also show that the bathochromic shifts observed for the first absorption band imply changes in the relative energies of the singlet and triplet manifolds, which in turn manifest in a 2-fold increase of the fluorescence lifetime in cyclohexane compared with the polar solvents. Additionally, we performed excited-state calculations at the TD-DFT/ PBE0/6-311++G(d,p) level of theory with the PCM model for solvation. The TD-DFT theory identifies the presence of upper triplet states which can act as receiver states in this highly efficient photophysical pathway. Together, the experimental and theoretical results show that the dynamics of the S1 state in 1-nitronaphthalene represent an extreme manifestation of El-Sayeds rules due to a partial (n-pi*) character in the receiver triplets which are nearly isoenergetic with S1, determining a change in the molecular spin state within 100 fs.

Relaxation in the Triplet Manifold of 1-Nitronaphthalene Observed by Transient Absorption Spectroscopy

Previous phosphorescence and triplet quantum yield determinations indicate that the primary photophysical channel for 1-nitronaphthalene is the formation of its lowest energy triplet state. Also, previous direct measurements of the decay of the fluorescence from this compound indicated that the crossing between the singlet and triplet manifolds is ultrafast (sub-100 fs). In this contribution we present a sub-picosecond transient absorption study of the relaxation of photoexcited 1-nitronaphthalene in methanol and other solvents. Our measurements reveal the time scale in which the fully relaxed T(1) state is formed. We have observed that the spectral evolution associated with this process takes place in time scales from one to a few tens of picoseconds. Specifically, the appearance of the absorption spectrum of T(1) in the visible region is accompanied by the decay of transient signals at wavelengths below 400 nm. Since the fluorescence lifetime of this compound is sub-100 fs, we assigned the picoseconds decaying signals below 400 nm to an intermediate triplet state which acts as a receiver state in the intersystem crossing step and from which the T(1) population accumulates. From the details of the spectral evolution and the effects of different solvents, we also conclude that T(1) formation and vibrational cooling within this state occur in similar time scales of between 1 and 16 ps. Mainly, our results provide direct evidence in support of the participation of an upper triplet state in the mechanism for intersystem crossing in this molecule. This is considered to be common in the photophysics of several nitrated polycyclic aromatic compounds and the most determinant feature of their primary photochemistry.

Role of Upper Triplet States on the Photophysics of Nitrated Polyaromatic Compounds: S1 Lifetimes of Singly Nitrated Pyrenes

The photophysics of most nitrated polycyclic aromatic compounds is dominated by an ultrafast intersystem crossing channel, which makes their first singlet excited states decay with rates on the order of 10(12) to 10(13) s(-1). Some questions, however, remain about the nature of the receiver triplet states, which have been in principle assigned to specific triplets of a different electronic configuration from T(1). In particular, it could be suggested that even a small degree of n-π* character of the T(1) state may be enough to allow the S(1) state to couple to upper vibronic states of the lowest energy triplet, without the requirement for specific upper triplet states. In this report, we show that there are, in fact, nitroaromatic compounds that do not show the ultrafast intersystem crossing channel but instead have S(1) states that are two to three orders of magnitude longer lived. Our studies focused on the time resolution of the emission from singly nitrated pyrenes, which show a strong photophysical dependence on the position of the NO(2) group: Whereas S(1) in 1-nitropyrene is short-lived (up to 3 ps), in 4-nitropyrene and 2-nitropyrene this state has 0.41 and 1.2 ns lifetimes, respectively, in acetonitrile solution. Computational work at the TD-DFT level of theory indicates that such remarkable increase in the first excited singlet lifetime can indeed be explained by a loss of the energy coincidence between the S(1) state with specific upper triplet states formed from transitions that involve the nonbonding orbitals at the oxygen atoms. These results are in strong support of the previous descriptions about the requirement for intermediacy of specific triplet states in the ultrafast decay of the fluorescent state present in most nitroaromatics. The implications for the photochemistry of this group of toxic atmospheric pollutants, including the channel that redounds in the dissociation of the NO· fragment, are discussed in view of the present results.

Excited-state dynamics of nitrated push-pull molecules: the importance of the relative energy of the singlet and triplet manifolds.

We present a study of the dynamics following photoexcitation in the first electronic band of NO(2)-para-substituted nitronaphthalenes. Our main goal was to determine the interplay between the nitro group, electron-donating substituents, and the solvent in defining the relative excited-state energies and their photoinduced pathways. We studied 4-nitro-1-naphthylamine and 1-methoxy-4-nitronaphthalene in solution samples through femtosecond fluorescence up-conversion and transient absorption techniques. In all solvents, both compounds have ultrafast fluorescence decays, showing that, similarly to the parent compound 1-nitronaphthalene, these molecules have highly efficient S(1) decay channels. The evolution of the transient absorption signals in the visible region reveals that for the methoxy-substituted compound, independently of solvent polarity, the photophysical pathways are the same as in 1-nitronaphthalene, namely, ultrafast intersystem crossing to an upper triplet state (receiver T(n) state) followed by relaxation into the lowest energy phosphorescent triplet T(1). In contrast, for the amino-substituted nitronaphthalene, the excited-state evolution shows a strong solvent dependence: In nonpolar solvents, the same type of intersystem crossing through an upper receiver triplet state dictates the photochemistry. However, in methanol, where the first singlet excited state shows an important solvent-induced stabilization, we observed typical signals of the repopulation of the electronic ground state in the time scale of less than 1 ps followed by vibrational cooling within S(0). Excited-state calculations at the time-dependent density functional level with the PBE0 functional give an approximate characterization of the states involved and appear to correlate well with the experimental results as they show that the S(1) state of the amino compound is stabilized with respect to upper triplet states only in the polar solvent. These findings sustain and illustrate the recent view that the intersystem crossing channel so prevalent in nitroaromatic compounds is related to an energy coincidence between the pi-pi* first singlet excited state and upper triplet states with n-pi* character. Our results indicate through direct observations that if the S(1) state is sufficiently stabilized, other rapid decay channels like internal conversion to the ground state will minimize the transfer of population to the triplet manifold.

On the Accessibility to Conical Intersections in Purines: Hypoxanthine and its Singly Protonated and Deprotonated Forms

The dynamics following electronic excitation of hypoxanthine and its nucleoside inosine were studied by femtosecond fluorescence up-conversion. Our objective was to explore variants of the purinic DNA bases in order to determine the molecular parameters that increase or reduce the accessibility to ground state conical intersections. From experiments in water and methanol solution we conclude that both dominant neutral tautomers of hypoxanthine exhibit ultrashort excited state lifetimes (τ < 0.2 ps), which are significantly shorter than in the related nucleobase guanine. This points to a more accessible conical intersection for the fluorescent state upon removal of the amino group, present in guanine but absent in hypoxanthine. The excited state dynamics of singly protonated hypoxanthine were also studied, showing biexponential decays with a 1.1 ps component (5%) besides a sub-0.2 ps ultrafast component. On the other hand, the S(1) lifetimes of the singly deprotonated forms of hypoxanthine and inosine show drastic differences, where the latter remains ultrafast but the singly deprotonated hypoxanthine shows a much longer lifetime of 19 ps. This significant variation is related to the different deprotonation sites in hypoxanthine versus inosine, which gives rise to significantly different resonance structures. In our study we also include multireference perturbation theory (MRMP2) excited state calculations in order to determine the nature of the initial electronic excitation in our experiments and clarify the ordering of the states in the singlet manifold at the ground state geometry. In addition, we performed multireference configuration interaction calculations (MR-CIS) that identify the presence of low-lying conical intersections for both prominent neutral tautomers of hypoxanthine. In both cases, the surface crossings occur at geometries reached by out of plane opposite motions of C2 and N3. The study of this simpler purine gives several insights into how small structural modifications, including amino substitution and protonation site and state, determine the accessibility to conical intersections in this kind of heterocycles.

Excited-State Dynamics and Two-Photon Absorption Cross Sections of Fluorescent Diphenyl-TinIV Derivatives with Schiff Bases: A Comparative Study of the Effect of Chelation from the Ultrafast to the Steady-State Time Scale

Schiff bases bearing an intramolecular hydrogen bond are known to undergo excited-state intramolecular proton transfer and E-Z isomerization, which are related to their thermochromism and solvatochromism properties. In this study, we explored these ultrafast photoinduced processes for two doubly hydroxylated Schiff bases, salicylidene-2-aminophenol and 2-hydroxynaphthylmethylidene-2-aminophenol. From comparisons with our previously reported results for the parent monohidroxylated Schiff base salicylideneaniline, we were able to establish the lack of an effect of a second intramolecular hydrogen bond in the excited-state intramolecular proton-transfer process. Moreover, we synthesized and studied the photophysics of 14 diphenyl-tin(IV) derivatives with Schiff bases with the same framework as the former two. In these organometallic compounds, we observed an increase of more than 50 times in the excited-state decay times in comparison with those of the free ligands. This finding is attributed to the coordination with the metallic center, which restricts the fluctuations of the geometry of the organic Schiff base skeleton. The emission bands of these complexes can be easily tuned through substitutions at the Schiff base ligand and can be made to be centered well above 600 nm. The much enhanced emissive behavior of all diphenyl-tin(IV) derivatives allowed the study of several properties of their electronically excited states, including the effects of different substituents on their femtosecond and picosecond dynamics. Considering potential applications, we also performed transient absorption experiments to assess the wavelength interval for stimulated emission of this type of compound. Finally, we determined their two-photon absorption cross sections in the 760-820-nm range by measuring their two-photon induced fluorescence excitation spectra. Mainly, our results illustrate that the diphenyl-tin(IV) moiety, thanks to its size and its coordination mode with a single Schiff base, can be coordinated to this versatile framework to obtain tunable optical properties wherein the emissive states can have lifetimes on the nanosecond time scale.

The Influence of Push−Pull States on the Ultrafast Intersystem Crossing in Nitroaromatics

The photochemistry of nitro-substituted polyaromatic compounds is generally determined by the rapid decay of its S1 state and the rapid population of its triplet manifold. Previous studies have shown that such an efficient channel is due to a strong coupling of the fluorescent state with specific upper receiver states in the triplet manifold. Here we examine variations in this mechanism through the comparison of the photophysics of 2-nitrofluorene with that of 2-diethylamino-7-nitrofluorene. The only difference between these two molecules is the presence of a diethylamino group in a push-pull configuration for the latter compound. The femtosecond-resolved experiments presented herein indicate that 2-nitrofluorene shows ultrafast intersystem crossing which depopulates the S1 emissive state within less than a picosecond. On the other hand, the amino substituted nitrofluorene shows a marked shift in its S1 energy redounding in the loss of coupling with the receiver triplet state, and therefore a much longer lifetime of 100 ps in cyclohexane. In polar solvents, the diethylamino substituted compound actually shows double peaked fluorescence due to the formation of charge transfer states. Evaluation of the Stokes shifts in different solvents indicates that both bands correspond to intramolecular charge transfer states in equilibrium which are formed in an ultrafast time scale from the original locally excited (LE) state. The present study addresses the interplay between electron-donating and nitro substituents, showing that the addition of the electron-donating amino group is able to change the coupling with the triplet states due to a stabilization of the first excited singlet state and the rapid formation of charge transfer states in polar solvents. We include calculations at the TD-DFT level of theory with the PBE0 and B3LYP functionals which nicely predict the observed difference between the two compounds, showing how the specific S(π-π*)-T(n-π*) coupling normally prevalent in nitroaromatics is lost in the push-pull compound.

Ultrafast Photosensitization of Phthalocyanines through Their Axial Ligands

We have studied the energy transfer properties of a novel silicon phthalocyanine that coordinates two anthracene-9-carboxylate groups in the form of trans axial ligands. Our objectives were to generate a system with auxiliary chromophores that enhance the light absorption properties of the macrocycle in a specific region in the UV and to evaluate the efficiency and time scales for energy transfer. The ligand coordination through a carboxylate group directly attached to the anthracenic system allows for close proximity of the donor and acceptor chromophores. The energy transfer process was observed to be nearly 100% efficient and to occur on a time scale of 370 fs. From the energy relations of the donor and acceptor states and the observed dynamics, the initial energy transfer step is likely to involve upper electronic states of the phthalocyanine rather than the states of the lowest-energy vibroelectronic Q bands.