Energetics, charge selectivity and interfacial charge transfer kinetics affect the efficiency of solar electric energy conversion and solar photochemical formation of fuels. The research described herein focuses on understanding and controlling the energetics, charge selectivity, and interfacial charge transfer processes in organic photovoltaics, as well as new generation semiconductor-semiconductor and metal-semiconductor heterostructured nanorods (NRs) as photocatalysts. Waveguide and transmission based spectroelectrochemistries, photoemission spectroscopies, and impedance spectroscopy were used to characterize the frontier orbital energies, charge selectivity and interfacial charge transfer kinetics in heterostructured NRs and organic photovoltaics. CdSe NRs tipped with Au nanoparticles and CdSe seeded CdS NRs tipped with Pt nanoparticles were used to study the effect of compositional asymmetry and catalytic sites on band edge energies of NRs. We used UV photoemission spectroscopy (UPS) and waveguide and transmission-based spectroelectrochemistry of NR monolayers/multilayers on conductive substrates to estimate valence/conduction band energies. Potential-modulated attenuated total reflectance (PM-ATR) spectroscopy was utilized to measure the apparent heterogeneous rate constants of reversible electron injection into NR films on indium tin oxide (ITO). We conclude from these measurements that metal tipping, which is designed to enhance the photocatalytic activity of semiconductor NRs, altered band edge energies and enhanced electronic coupling to conductive substrates, in ways that are predicted to influence their efficiency as photoelectrocatalysts. Monolayers of functionalized phosphonic acid ruthenium phthalocyanines (RuPcPA) tethered to ITO as a model organic photovoltaic donor/electrode interface were studied to understand the aggregation and orientation dependent charge transfer kinetics and energetics of these systems. The effect of surface roughness on the orientation of RuPcPA was theoretically modeled and compared to the experimental results. Electrochemical and spectroelectrochemical studies revealed the presence of only monomeric species on ITO. Impedance spectroscopy (IS) and PM-ATR were used to measure charge transfer rate constants. Further, frontier orbital energies of RuPcPA modified ITO were measured using UPS, and the results indicated favorable energetics for hole collection at the RuPcPA/ITO interface for OPV applications. The effect of "UV-light soaking" on the performance of organic photovoltaic devices employing metal oxide (MO) electron selective interlayers (ESL) was addressed using sputtered zinc oxide (ZnO) ESL films. This study provides a coherent methodology for differentiating between the proposed origins of the s-shaped current-voltage (J-V) responses in the literature for organic photovoltaics using MO ESLs. We use IS and UPS to demonstrate that the energetic barrier for charge extraction at the ZnO/active layer interface leads to the observed s-shape response in OPVs using ZnO ESLs. Furthermore, this study provides clear guidelines for minimizing the s-shaped J-V response and the effect of UV light on the performances of OPV devices using ZnO ESLs. We have developed solution electrochemical protocols to characterize nanometer-scale porosity and electronic properties of both solution-deposited and sputtered ZnO thin films used as interlayers for electron-harvesting contacts in inverted organic solar cells on ITO substrates. These electrochemical experiments were performed in order to evaluate the hole-blocking abilities of these ZnO ESLs as well as their effective "pinhole density," thus demonstrating a strong correlation to their OPV performances. These electrochemical experiments can be used to characterize and optimize ESLs rapidly, before OPV device fabrication.

Darbo tikslas buvo ištirti nuo pirolo chinolinchinono (PQQ) priklausomų oksidoreduktazių veikimą homogeninėje ir heterogeninėje aplinkose ir jų pagrindu sukurti naujas bioelektrokatalizines sistemas. Tuo tikslu buvo kurtos impedimetrinės ir bioamperometrinės sistemos su nuo PQQ priklausomomis alkoholio (tADH ir mADH), gliukozės (GDH) ir fruktozės (FDH)dehidrogenazėmis naujų elektrodinių medžiagų pagrindu, parenkant optimalų fermento imobilizavimo būdą ir elektronų pernašos (EP) mediatorius. Fermentai ir sistemos tirtos klasikinės elektrochemijos, impedanso spektroskopijos, spektrofotometrijos, atominės jėgos mikroskopijos metodais. Nustatytos tADH ir mADH pKa reikšmės ir EP keliai, pagrindinės bioelektrocheminių sistemų charakteristikos, įvertinta heterogeninės aplinkos įtaka fermentų specifiškumui. Sukurtas imobilizavimo būdas leidžiantis išlaikyti GDH aktyvumą iki 9-ių mėnesių. Pirmą kartą parodyta, jog fermentai gali tiesiogiai re-oksiduotis ant poli - N - (N, N‘- dietil ditiokarbamoil etil amidoetil) – anilino ir grafito produktų. Nustatyta, jog 2-(3-nitro(fenil)amino)- cikloheksa-2,5-dien-1,4-dionas iki 10 kartų pagreitina FDH katalizuojamą fruktozės oksidaciją. Pirmą kartą parodyta, kad bioamperometrinės sistemos su FDH gali oksiduoti D(-)tagatozę. Tyrimų rezultatai pritaikyti kuriant alkoholių, angliavandenių ir anglies monoksido stebėjimo sistemas. / The aim of this work was to study the action of pyrroloquinoline quinone (PQQ) dependent oxidoreductases in homogeneous and heterogeneous ambiences and to create new bioelectrocatalytic systems based on these enzymes. Bioelectrochemical systems with PQQ dependent alcohol (sADH and mADH), glucose (GDH) and fructose (FDH) dehydrogenases were constructed by using new electrode materials, enzyme immobilization techniques and electron transfer (ET) mediators. Enzymes and systems were studied by different electrochemical methods and atomic force microscopy. pKa values and ET pathways in bioelectrochemical systems were determined for sADH and mADH. The main characteristics of systems and influence of heterogeneous ambience to the specificity of the enzymes were determined. The GDH immobilization method, which ensures enzyme activity up to 9 months, was created. The direct ET from reduced enzymes active sites to poly(N-(N’,N’-diethyldithiocarbamoylethylamidoethyl)aniline) and graphite oxidation products was revealed for the first time. It was observed that 2-(3-nitro(phenyl)amino)- ciclohexa-2,5-dien-1,4-dione is the most effective mediator for FDH. The ability of bioamperometric systems with FDH to oxidize D(-)tagatose was determined for the first time. It was shown, that bioamperometric systems based on PQQ dependent enzymes can be applied for detection of alcohols, carbohydrates and carbon monoxide.

Darbo tikslas buvo ištirti nuo pirolo chinolinchinono (PQQ) priklausomų oksidoreduktazių veikimą homogeninėje ir heterogeninėje aplinkose ir jų pagrindu sukurti naujas bioelektrokatalizines sistemas. Tuo tikslu buvo kurtos impedimetrinės ir bioamperometrinės sistemos su nuo PQQ priklausomomis alkoholio (tADH ir mADH), gliukozės (GDH) ir fruktozės (FDH)dehidrogenazėmis naujų elektrodinių medžiagų pagrindu, parenkant optimalų fermento imobilizavimo būdą ir elektronų pernašos (EP) mediatorius. Fermentai ir sistemos tirtos klasikinės elektrochemijos, impedanso spektroskopijos, spektrofotometrijos, atominės jėgos mikroskopijos metodais. Nustatytos tADH ir mADH pKa reikšmės ir EP keliai, pagrindinės bioelektrocheminių sistemų charakteristikos, įvertinta heterogeninės aplinkos įtaka fermentų specifiškumui. Sukurtas imobilizavimo būdas leidžiantis išlaikyti GDH aktyvumą iki 9-ių mėnesių. Pirmą kartą parodyta, jog fermentai gali tiesiogiai re-oksiduotis ant poli - N - (N, N‘- dietil ditiokarbamoil etil amidoetil) – anilino ir grafito produktų. Nustatyta, jog 2-(3-nitro(fenil)amino)- cikloheksa-2,5-dien-1,4-dionas iki 10 kartų pagreitina FDH katalizuojamą fruktozės oksidaciją. Pirmą kartą parodyta, kad bioamperometrinės sistemos su FDH gali oksiduoti D(-)tagatozę. Tyrimų rezultatai pritaikyti kuriant alkoholių, angliavandenių ir anglies monoksido stebėjimo sistemas. / The aim of this work was to study the action of pyrroloquinoline quinone (PQQ) dependent oxidoreductases in homogeneous and heterogeneous ambiences and to create new bioelectrocatalytic systems based on these enzymes. Bioelectrochemical systems with PQQ dependent alcohol (sADH and mADH), glucose (GDH) and fructose (FDH) dehydrogenases were constructed by using new electrode materials, enzyme immobilization techniques and electron transfer (ET) mediators. Enzymes and systems were studied by different electrochemical methods and atomic force microscopy. pKa values and ET pathways in bioelectrochemical systems were determined for sADH and mADH. The main characteristics of systems and influence of heterogeneous ambience to the specificity of the enzymes were determined. The GDH immobilization method, which ensures enzyme activity up to 9 months, was created. The direct ET from reduced enzymes active sites to poly(N-(N’,N’-diethyldithiocarbamoylethylamidoethyl)aniline) and graphite oxidation products was revealed for the first time. It was observed that 2-(3-nitro(phenyl)amino)- ciclohexa-2,5-dien-1,4-dione is the most effective mediator for FDH. The ability of bioamperometric systems with FDH to oxidize D(-)tagatose was determined for the first time. It was shown, that bioamperometric systems based on PQQ dependent enzymes can be applied for detection of alcohols, carbohydrates and carbon monoxide.

Hemoenzymes are prevalent in nature and participate in a wide range of biological activities. Frequently, high-valence iron intermediates are involved in the catalytic events of these enzymes, especially when the activation of peroxide or dioxygen is involved. Building on the fundamental framework of iron-oxygen chemistry, the mechanistic understandings of these enzymes and their reactive intermediates constantly attract attention from the enzymology community. This dissertation work focused on the mechanistic studies on two hemoenzymes, tryptophan 2,3-dioxygenase (TDO) and MauG, both of which catalyze unique chemical transformations, i.e., tryptophan oxidation. TDO and MauG are structurally distinct from each other; they catalyze different types of oxidization reactions on tryptophan via diverse strategies. TDO catalyzes the ring-cleavage dioxygenation reaction of free L-tryptophan, incorporating both oxygen atoms from dioxygen into the substrate. MauG uses hydrogen peroxide as the oxidant to catalyze a complex posttranslational-modification reaction on two tryptophan residues from a protein substrate. It utilizes radical chemistry to perform a 40-Å long-range catalytic event. Despite the differences in their catalytic behavior, both enzymes are suggested to employ high-valence iron intermediates in their reactions. A collection of biochemical and spectroscopic approaches was employed to obtain detailed insight into the electronic and structural contributions to the formation and stabilization of high-valence iron intermediates, and into the heme-dependent tryptophan-oxidizing mechanisms. In the study TDO, we solved the long-standing mystery of how the active Fe(II) enzyme is generated from the resting Fe(III) form by hydrogen peroxide. A peroxide-driven reactivation mechanism was established based on the identification of a compound ES-type ferryl intermediate. Additional efforts were dedicated to clarify the controversy in the literature regarding the catalytic roles of a distal histidine residue. Chemical-rescue approaches were used to specify the catalytic contributions of the target residue. In the study of MauG, we discovered an unprecedented tryptophan-mediated charge-resonance phenomenon in the bis-Fe(IV) redox state. This discovery provides the molecular basis for the chemical reactivity and stability of the catalytically competent bis-Fe(IV) intermediate. Together with our collaborators, we also outlined the mechanism of the MauG-mediated long-range catalysis by identifying the catalytic functions of several important residues along the reaction pathway.

No description available.

Despite advances in technology and understanding of biological systems in the past two decades, modern drug discovery is still a lengthy, expensive, difficult and inefficient process with low rate of new therapeutic discovery. The search for new effective drugs remains a somewhat empirical process. There is compelling need for a more fundamental, mechanistic understanding of human cancers and anticancer drugs to design more appropriate drugs. Radiotherapy is still the major therapy of cancer. It uses high-energy ionizing radiation such as x-rays and charged particle beams to destroy cancer cells. DNA is well known to be the principal biological target of radiotherapy, but the molecular mechanism of ionizing radiation induced DNA damage was elusive. The conventional thought of the ???OH radical as the major origin for ionizing radiation induced DNA damage is questionable. Although various strategies and types of compounds have been designed and developed as potential radiosensitizers to enhance the radiosensitizing efficiency of radiotherapy, none of them have been approved for clinical use. The general outcomes of clinical trials have been disappointing. This thesis presents an innovative molecular-mechanism-based drug discovery project to develop novel drugs for effective radiotherapy of cancer through the emerging femtomedicine approach. Its ultimate goal is to develop more effective radiosensitizers, based on our unique molecular understandings of ionizing radiation induced DNA damage and halopyrimidines as a family of potential radiosensitizers. Direct, real-time observation of molecular reactions is of significant importance in diverse fields from chemistry and biology, environmental sciences to medicine. Femtosecond time-resolved laser spectroscopy (fs-TRLS) is a very powerful, direct technique for real-time observation of molecular reactions. Its key strength lies in short duration laser flashes of a time scale at which reactions actually happen - femtoseconds (fs) (1fs = 10???15 second). Since the late 1980s, its application to study chemical and biological systems led to the births of new subfields of science, called femtochemistry and femtobiology. Recently, femtomedicine has been proposed as a new transdisciplinary frontier to integrate ultrafast laser techniques with biomedical methods for advances in fundamental understandings and treatments of major human diseases. This the remarkable opportunity afforded through real-time observation of biochemical reactions at the molecular level. Femtomedicine holds the promise of advances in the radiotherapy of cancer. Several important findings were made in this thesis. First, our results of careful and high-quality fs-TRLS measurements have resolved the long existing controversies about the physical nature and lifetimes of a novel ultrashort-lived electron species (epre???) generated in radiolysis of water. These results have not only resolved the large discrepancies existing in the literature but provided new insights into electron hydration dynamics in bulk water. Such information is important for quantitative understanding and modeling of the role of non-equilibrium epre??? in electron-driven reactions in diverse environmental and biological systems, from radiation chemistry and radiation biology to atmospheric ozone depletion. Second, our fs-TRLS results have unraveled how epre??? plays a crucial role in ionizing radiation induced DNA damage. We found that among DNA bases, only T and especially G are vulnerable to a dissociative electron transfer (DET) reaction with epre??? leading to bond breaks, while the electron can be stably trapped at C and especially A to form stable anions. The results not only challenge the conventional notion that damage to the genome by ionizing radiation is mainly induced by the oxidizing ???OH radical, but provide a deeper fundamental understanding of the molecular mechanism of the DNA damage caused by a reductive agent (epre???). Our findings have led to a new molecular mechanism of reductive DNA damage. Third, halopyrimidines, especially BrdU and IdU, have passed Phase I to II clinical trials as potential hypoxic radiosensitizers, but the outcome of Phase III clinical trials was disappointing. Our results of fs-TRLS studies have provided a new molecular mechanism of action of halopyrimidines (XdUs, X=F, Cl, Br and I) in liquid water under ionizing radiation. We found that it is the ultrashort-lived epre???, rather than the long-lived ehyd???, that is responsible for DET reactions of XdUs. This reaction leads to the formation of the reactive dU??? radical, which then causes DNA strand breaks and cancer cell death. Our results have challenged a long accepted mechanism that long-lived ehyd??? would be responsible for the radical formation from halogenated molecules. Furthermore, we found that the DET reaction efficacy leading to the formation of the reactive dU??? radical is in the order of FdU << CldU < BrdU < IdU. Thus, only BrdU and IdU could be explored as potential radiosensitizers, in agreement with the results of bioactivity tests and clinical trials. Fourth, our fs-TRLS studies have provided a molecular mechanism for the DNA sequence selectivity of BrdU and IdU in radiosensitization. We found the DET reactions of BrdU/ IdU with dAMP*??? and dGMP*??? formed by attachment of epre??? generated by radiolysis of water in aqueous BrdU-dAMP/dGMP and IdU-dAMP/dGMP complexes under ionizing radiation. This new mechanistic insight into the interaction of BrdU and IdU with DNA provides clues to improve the halogen familty as potential radiosensitizers and to develop more effective radiosensitizers for clinical applications. Fifth, based on our molecular mechanistic understandings of DNA damage induced by ionizing radiation and halopyrimidines as potential radiosensitizers, we develop more effective new radisensitizing drug candidates through the femtomedicine approach. We have performed a fs-TRLS study of the DET reaction of a candidate compound (RS-1) with epre???, and found that the DET reaction of epre??? with RS-1 is much stronger than that of IdU (and certainly BrdU and CldU). Moreover, we have tested the radiosensitizing effect of RS-1 against human cervical cancer (HeLa) cells exposed to various doses of x-ray irradiation through DNA damage measurements by gel electrophoresis and cell viability/death assays by MTT. Our results have confirmed that RS-1 can largely enhance the radiosensitivity of treated human cervical cancer (HeLa) cells to x-ray (ionizing) radiation. It is clearly demonstrated that RS-1 has a much better radiosensitizing effect than IdU. Although these are just preliminary results, our results have shown promise of developing more effective radiosensitizers. In summary, our studies have demonstrated the potential of femtomedicine as an exciting new frontier to bring breakthroughs in understanding fundamental biological processes and to provide an efficient and economical strategy for development of new anticancer drugs.

In sugar industry, determination of invert sugars (fructose and glucose) provides information about the quality, process control and characteristics of the produced fructose and glucose syrups. Determination of invert sugar is also important for wine industries. In wine process, fructose and glucose are converted to ethanol by fermentation and the type of wine is designated by the amount of invert sugar remained. Fast and reliable invert sugar detection techniques are required to check the quality of wine throughout the fermentation process. Cathecholamines (eg. dopamine and epinephrine) are diol containing compounds which play important roles in higher animals&rsquo / physicomotor activities, learning, sleeping, memory and immune system. They also affect brain functions. Inbalances in dopamine level in brain result in a number of psychiatric disorders, particularly schizophrenia and Parkinson disease. Catecholamines are present in relatively high amounts in drugs. Many efforts have been made to develop analytical procedures for their rapid, simple and accurate determination. For these reasons, catecholamine quantification is important in the field of pharmacy and medicine. Boronic acids interact with 1,2 or 1,3-diol containing compounds, such as fructose, glucose and dopamine, rapidly and reversibly. Hence, boronic acids are used as the recognition moeity in the construction of photoinduced electron transfer (PET) fluorophores specific for saccharides and catecholamines. In this study, a flow injection analysis system has been developed for the rapid and selective recognition of fructose and glucose in wine and in commercial sugar syrups / dopamine and epinephrine in pharmaceutical injections by using dansylaminophenyl boronic acid (DAPB) which is a fluorescent PET molecule.

Organic photovoltaics (OPVs) that have been studied to date have poor power conversion efficiencies. This dissertation focuses on various molecular designs that could lead to both a fundamental understanding of photoinduced charge separation at a molecular level and also provide a solution to improve bulk properties of organic materials to overcome the poor efficiencies of OPV devices. The effect of molecular architectures on the efficiency of electron transfer, a primary step in OPVs functioning, is evaluated in this work. We have shown that even though dendrimer provides an interesting architecture for efficient electron transfer due to the presence of multiple peripheries around a single core, this architecture leads to trapping of charge at the dendritic core. This results in a decrease in the electron transfer efficiency in solution and also limits the possibility of charge transport to the electron in a photovoltaic device. Non-conjugated polymers containing conductive EDOT units at side chains were also designed and synthesized. The frontier energy levels of these polymers can be easily tuned by changing the conjugation lengths of side chain EDOT oligomers. Moreover, by incorporating crosslinkable units as co-side chains, the absorption bandwidth of these polymers can be manipulated as well.

Previous research has underscored the importance of protein dynamics during light-induced electron transfer; however, specific interactions have not been well characterized. It is of particular importance to understand the role of protein dynamics and cofactor interactions in controlling electron transfer in oxygenic photosynthesis. These factors include hydrogen bonding, ð-stacking and electrostatic interactions. Reaction-induced FT-IR spectroscopy is sensitive to these interactions as well as isotopic incorporation, and is useful to probe protein dynamics associated with light-induced electron transfer in Photosystem I (PSI). Density functional theory (DFT) provides information concerning the vibrational frequencies of molecules as well as the amplitudes of the vibrations and sensitivity to isotope incorporation. Combining these approaches, protein dynamics associated with light-induced electron transfer in PSI were studied. The work presented here describes specific protein cofactor interactions and specific protein relaxation events associated with light-induced electron transfer. The results reported here are consistent with noncovalent protein cofactor interactions that modulate the redox potential of the secondary electron acceptor of PSI. Furthermore, the studies presented here describe novel protein dynamics associated with the oxidation of the terminal electron donor of PSI. These results characterize specific protein dynamics that may be associated with interactions of the soluble electron donors. These studies highlight the importance of protein dynamics in oxygenic photosynthesis.

To better understand the optical and electronic properties of thiophene- and pyrrole-based organic compounds on a molecular level, several aromatic compounds and their corresponding monocations were analyzed by a variety of solution-based spectroscopic techniques. The derivatives were initially synthesized using palladium-catalyzed amination reactions, condensation reactions, Horner-Emmons reactions, and Stille coupling reactions. Once isolated, the neutral compounds were analyzed by UV-visible-NIR absorption spectroscopy, fluorescence spectroscopy, cyclic voltammetry, and / or differential pulse voltammetry. Monocations were generated by chemical oxidation and were analyzed by visible-NIR absorption spectroscopy and electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy. By quantifying the extent of the electron-donor abilities of some chromophores and the electron delocalization of positive charge in the monocations, a more thorough understanding of the optical and electronic properties of the compounds was obtained.