Miguel Gervaldo

[FeFe]-Hydrogenase-Catalyzed H2 Production in a Photoelectrochemical Biofuel Cell

The Clostridium acetobutylicum [FeFe]-hydrogenase HydA has been investigated as a hydrogen production catalyst in a photoelectrochemical biofuel cell. Hydrogenase was adsorbed to pyrolytic graphite edge and carbon felt electrodes. Cyclic voltammograms of the immobilized hydrogenase films reveal cathodic proton reduction and anodic hydrogen oxidation, with a catalytic bias toward hydrogen evolution. When corrected for the electrochemically active surface area, the cathodic current densities are similar for both carbon electrodes, and approximately 40% of those obtained with a platinum electrode. The high surface area carbon felt/hydrogenase electrode was subsequently used as the cathode in a photoelectrochemical biofuel cell. Under illumination, this device is able to oxidize a biofuel substrate and reduce protons to hydrogen. Similar photocurrents and hydrogen production rates were observed in the photoelectrochemical biofuel cell using either hydrogenase or platinum cathodes.

A Bioinspired Construct That Mimics the Proton Coupled Electron Transfer between P680*† and the Tyrz-His190 Pair of Photosystem II

A bioinspired hybrid system, composed of colloidal TiO2 nanoparticles surface modified with a photochemically active mimic of the PSII chlorophyll-Tyr-His complex, undergoes photoinduced stepwise electron transfer coupled to proton motion at the phenolic site. Low temperature electron paramagnetic resonance studies reveal that injected electrons are localized on TiO2 nanoparticles following photoexcitation. At 80 K, 95% of the resulting holes are localized on the phenol moiety and 5% are localized on the porphyrin. At 4.2 K, 52% of the holes remain trapped on the porphyrin. The anisotropic coupling tensors of the phenoxyl radical are resolved in the photoinduced D-band EPR spectra and are in good agreement with previously reported g-tensors of tyrosine radicals in photosystem II. The observed temperature dependence of the charge shift is attributed to restricted nuclear motion at low temperature and is reminiscent of the observation of a trapped high-energy state in the natural system. Electrochemical studies show that the phenoxyl/phenol couple of the model system is chemically reversible and thermodynamically capable of water oxidation.

Mimicking the electron transfer chain in photosystem II with a molecular triad thermodynamically capable of water oxidation.

In the photosynthetic photosystem II, electrons are transferred from the manganese-containing oxygen evolving complex (OEC) to the oxidized primary electron-donor chlorophyll P680•+ by a proton-coupled electron transfer process involving a tyrosine-histidine pair. Proton transfer from the tyrosine phenolic group to a histidine nitrogen positions the redox potential of the tyrosine between those of P680•+ and the OEC. We report the synthesis and time-resolved spectroscopic study of a molecular triad that models this electron transfer. The triad consists of a high-potential porphyrin bearing two pentafluorophenyl groups (PF10), a tetracyanoporphyrin electron acceptor (TCNP), and a benzimidazole-phenol secondary electron-donor (Bi-PhOH). Excitation of PF10 in benzonitrile is followed by singlet energy transfer to TCNP (τ = 41 ps), whose excited state decays by photoinduced electron transfer (τ = 830 ps) to yield . A second electron transfer reaction follows (τ < 12 ps), giving a final state postulated as BiH+-PhO•-PF10-TCNP•-, in which the phenolic proton now resides on benzimidazole. This final state decays with a time constant of 3.8 μs. The triad thus functionally mimics the electron transfers involving the tyrosine-histidine pair in PSII. The final charge-separated state is thermodynamically capable of water oxidation, and its long lifetime suggests the possibility of coupling systems such as this system to water oxidation catalysts for use in artificial photosynthetic fuel production.

Optical modulation of molecular conductance

A novel scanning probe microscope stage permits break junction measurements of single molecule conductance while the molecules are illuminated with visible light. We studied a porphyrin-fullerene dyad molecule designed to form a charge separated state on illumination. A significant fraction of illuminated molecules become more conductive, returning to a lower conductance in the dark, suggesting the formation of a long-lived charge separated state on the indium-tin oxide surface. Transient absorption spectra of these molecular layers are consistent with formation of a long-lived charge separated state, a finding with implications for the design of molecular photovoltaic devices.

Photodynamic Inactivation of Bacteria Using Novel Electrogenerated Porphyrin-Fullerene C60 Polymeric Films

A porphyrin-fullerene C60 dyad (TCP-C60) substituted by carbazoyl groups was used to obtain electrogenerated polymeric films on optically transparent indium tin oxide (ITO) electrodes. This approach produced stable and reproducible polymers, holding fullerene units. The properties of this film were compared with those formed by layers of TCP/TCP-C60 and TCP/ZnTCP. Absorption spectra of the films presented the Soret and Q bands of the corresponding porphyrins. The TCP-C60 film produced a high photodecomposition of 2,2-(anthracene-9,10-diyl)bis(methylmalonate), which was used to detect singlet molecular oxygen O2((1)Δg) production in water. In addition, the TCP-C60 film induced the reduction of nitro blue tetrazolium to diformazan in the presence of NADH, indicating the formation of superoxide anion radical. Moreover, photooxidation of L-tryptophan mediated by TCP-C60 films was found in water. In biological media, photoinactivation of Staphylococcus aureus was evaluated depositing a drop with 2.5 × 10(3) cells on the films. After 30 min irradiation, no colony formation was detected using TCP-C60 or TCP/TCP-C60 films. Furthermore, photocytotoxic activity was observed in cell suspensions of S. aureus and Escherichia coli. The irradiated TCP-C60 film produced a 4 log decrease of S. aureus survival after 30 min. Also, a 4 log reduction of E. coli viability was obtained using the TCP-C60 film after 60 min irradiation. Therefore, the TCP-C60 film is an interesting and versatile photodynamic active surface to eradicate bacteria.

Photoinduced electron transfer in a hexaphenylbenzene-based self-assembled porphyrin-fullerene triad

A hexaphenylbenzene‐based zinc porphyrin dyad forms a 1:1 complex with a fullerene bearing two pyridyl groups via coordination of the pyridyl nitrogens with the zinc atoms. The fullerene is symmetrically located between the two zinc porphyrins. The binding constant for the complex is 7.3 × 104 M−1 in 1,2‐difluorobenzene. Photoinduced electron transfer from a porphyrin first excited singlet state to the fullerene occurs with a time constant of 3 ps, and the resulting charge‐separated state has a lifetime of 230 ps. This self‐assembled construct should form a basis for the construction of more elaborate model photosynthetic antenna‐reaction center systems.

Optical and electrochemical properties of hydrogen-bonded phenol-pyrrolidino[60]fullerenes

We report the photophysical and electrochemical properties of phenol-pyrrolidino[60]fullerenes 1 and 2, in which the phenol hydroxyl group is ortho and para to the pyrrolidino group, respectively, as well as those of a phenyl-pyrrolidino[60]fullerene model compound, 3. For the ortho analog 1, the presence of an intramolecular hydrogen bond is supported by (1)H NMR and FTIR characterization. The redox potential of the phenoxyl radical-phenol couple in this architecture is 240 mV lower than that observed in the associated para compound 2. Further, the C(60) excited-state lifetime of the hydrogen-bonded compound 1 in benzonitrile is 260 ps, while the corresponding lifetime for 2 is identical to that of the model compound 3 at 1.34 ns. Addition of excess organic acid to a benzonitrile solution of 1 gives rise to a new species, 4, with an excited-state lifetime of 1.40 ns. In nonpolar aprotic solvents such as toluene, all three compounds have a C(60) excited-state lifetime of ∼1 ns. These results suggest that the presence of an intramolecular H-bond in 1 poises the potential of phenoxyl radical-phenol redox couple at a value that it is thermodynamically capable of reducing the photoexcited fullerene. This is not the case for the para analog 2 nor is it the case for the protonated species 4. This work illustrates that in addition to being used as light activated electron acceptors, pyrrolidino fullerenes are also capable of acting as built-in proton-accepting units that influence the potential of an attached donor when organized in an appropriate molecular design.

Controlling Proton-Coupled Electron Transfer in Bio-Inspired Artificial Photosynthetic Relays

Bioinspired constructs consisting of benzimidazole-phenol moieties bearing N-phenylimines as proton-accepting substituents have been designed to mimic the H-bond network associated with the TyrZ-His190 redox relay in photosystem II. These compounds provide a platform to theoretically and experimentally explore and expand proton-coupled electron transfer (PCET) processes. The models feature H-bonds between the phenol and the nitrogen at the 3-position of the benzimidazole and between the 1 H-benzimidazole proton and the imine nitrogen. Protonation of the benzimidazole and the imine can be unambiguously detected by infrared spectroelectrochemistry (IRSEC) upon oxidation of the phenol. DFT calculations and IRSEC results demonstrate that with sufficiently strong electron-donating groups at the para-position of the N-phenylimine group (e.g., -OCH3 substitution), proton transfer to the imine is exergonic upon phenol oxidation, leading to a one-electron, two-proton (E2PT) product with the imidazole acting as a proton relay. When transfer of the second proton is not sufficiently exergonic (e.g., -CN substitution), a one-electron, one-proton transfer (EPT) product is dominant. Thus, the extent of proton translocation along the H-bond network, either ∼1.6 Å or ∼6.4 Å, can be controlled through imine substitution. Moreover, the H-bond strength between the benzimidazole NH and the imine nitrogen, which is a function of their relative p Ka values, and the redox potential of the phenoxyl radical/phenol couple are linearly correlated with the Hammett constants of the substituents. In all cases, a high potential (∼1 V vs SCE) is observed for the phenoxyl radical/phenol couple. Designing and tuning redox-coupled proton wires is important for understanding bioenergetics and developing novel artificial photosynthetic systems.

Merging [FeFe]-Hydrogenases with Materials and Nanomaterials as Biohybrid Catalysts for Solar H2 Production

The catalysts commonly used for the H2 producing reaction in artificial solar systems are typically platinum or particulate platinum composites. Biological catalysts, the hydrogenases, exist in a wide-variety of microbes and are biosynthesized from abundant, non-precious metals. By virtue of a unique catalytic metallo-cluster that is composed of iron and sulfur, [FeFe]-hydrogenases are capable of catalyzing H2 production at turnover rates of millimoles-per-second. In addition, these biological catalysts possess some of the characteristics that are desired for cost-effective solar H2 production systems, high solubilities in aqueous solutions and low activation energies, but are sensitive to CO and O2. We are investigating ways to merge [FeFe]-hydrogenases with a variety of organic materials and nanomaterials for the fabrication of electrodes and biohybrids as catalysts for use in artificial solar H2 production systems. These efforts include designs that allow for the integration of [FeFe]-hydrogenase in dye-solar cells as models to measure solar conversion and H2 production efficiencies. In support of a more fundamental understanding of [FeFe]-hydrogenase for these and other applications the role of protein structure in catalysis is being investigated. Currently there is little known about the mechanism of how these and other enzymes couple multi-electron transfer to proton reduction. To further the mechanistic understanding of [FeFe]-hydrogenases, structural models for substrate transfer are being used to create enzyme variants for biochemical analysis. Here results are presented on investigations of proton-transfer pathways in [FeFe]-hydrogenase and their interaction with single-walled carbon nanotubes.