Light-harvesting compounds are developed for a variety of purposes pertaining to areas such as energy-capture, chemical transformations, and lighting. There is a need to better understand the reactivity and excited state properties of these compounds. Many experiments focus on gleaning information about reactivity by observing spectral changes over time intervals ranging from femtoseconds to minutes (IR, UV-VIS, and UV-VIS pump-probe spectroscopy). This dissertation focuses on the interpretation of the experimental data from a computational perspective and methodological studies to determine reasonable levels of theory for each system. Three vignettes of this approach will be discussed. First, a mononuclear tungsten complex was found to be capable of self-sensitized catalytic H2 production. Experimental mechanistic studies employed time-resolved IR spectroscopy to capture spectral signatures of potential catalytic intermediates. DFT computational methods were utilized to predict geometries, energies, and harmonic stretching frequencies of a variety of catalytic intermediates that correlate rather well with experiment. For studying the excited state, the prototypical system that is both well-known and well-behaved is the [Ru(bpy)3]2+ ion. This complex undergoes a MLCT excitation and ultimately forms a long-lived 3MLCT state with a lifetime on the order of µs. While several computational studies exist, a systematic study on what dictates an appropriate level of theory for correctly describing this system is absent from the literature. We conduct a systematic study of a series of DFT functionals and basis set combinations to evaluate the relative energies of the MLCT and MC states, as well as correctly predicting the character of excitations observed in the transient UV-VIS spectra of the MLCT excited state. Finally, the absorption and emission spectra of a series of polycyclic aromatic azaborines were simulated and compared to their experimental values. Experimentally, some compounds exhibit large, solvent-dependent Stokes shifts consistent with CT excitations. Unfortunately, the excited state chemistry is not so straightforward and some of these compounds may become deprotonated in the ES, thus resulting in a charge-separated state. As a by-product of this project, the results from each method suggest that, contrary to literature precedent, typical hybrid functionals appear to overestimate the CT character of the computed excitations.

No description available.

Dans une première partie, nous mesurons l'affinité de l'interaction entre [Ru(pby)2dppz]2+ et l'ADN en utilisant la luminescence induite lors de la complexation. Nous étudions l'évolution de l'affinité lorsque la force ionique de la solution augmente. Dans une deuxième partie, nous modifions les extrémités d'un double brin d'ADN en y greffant des fluorophores. De la mesure de transfert d'énergie non-radiative entre ces fluorophores, nous étudions l'évolution de la longueur du complexe. Nous effectuons un dosage d'un double brin de 15 paires de bases d'ADN par le complexe ruthéné. Nous nous servons de la luminescence induite par l'intercalation du groupement dppz. Cependant, l'incrément de luminescence par groupement intercalé n'est pas connu, et nous ne pouvons pas le mesurer en saturant le brin d'ADN. Nous utilisons alors une technique mise au point par Nishida [Method for Measuring the Binding of Small Molecules to Proteins from Binding-Induced Alterations of Physical-Chemical Properties], dans laquelle deux titrations de deux solutions d'ADN de deux concentrations différentes sont effectuées. En utilisant le fait que, lorsque deux solutions d'ADN complexé par le composé ruthéné, possèdent la même luminescence par paire de base , le taux de complexation de ces deux solutions doit être le même, nous pouvons alors déterminer, sans hypothèse supplémentaire, le taux de complexation de l'ADN. De l'évolution de ce taux en fonction avec la concentration de ligand, nous déduisons son affinité pour l'ADN. Nous étudions maintenant le changement de longueur d'un double brin d'ADN de 15 paires de bases, modifié à ses deux extrémités par deux fluorophores : Alexa488 et Alexa568. Lorsque Alexa 488 est porté dans un état excité, il peut se désexciter en transférant de l'énergie de manière non-radiative à Alexa568, qui se désexcite alors en émettant des photons de plus faibles énergie que ceux émis par Alexa488. L'efficacité de ce transfert d'énergie peut être quantifié à partir de la mesure des intensités émises à basse et haute énergie. Elle dépend a priori de l'efficacité couplage (et en conséquence de la distance) entre les deux fluorophores. Nous effectuons des mesures de temps de vie des états excités de chacun des fluorophores. Nous avons observé que l'addition de ligand a pour conséquence une forte inhibition quenching des fluorophores. De l'analyse de l'évolution du temps de vie du fluorophore donneur d'une part et de celui du fluorophore accepteur d'autre part, nous déduisons l'évolution de l'efficacité du transfert d'énergie en fonction de la concentration de ligand. Nous confrontons les résultats obtenus par chacune de ces analyses, et en déduisons finalement, en nous servant de l'analyse de l'équilibre effectuée dans la première partie, l'évolution de la longueur de la chaîne en fonction du taux de complexation / This Ph.D thesis is mainly divided in to 2 parts. The first part is luminescence study, we are interested in the affinity constant (Ka) change under different salinity environments when the complexation of [Ru(bpy)2dppz]2+-DNA arrive equilibrium. In the second part, we focus our attention on the kinetic study by fluorescence which comes from the fluorophore. The distance change between 2 fluorophores is explored when [Ru(bpy)2dppz]2+ intercalates into DNA, which lead to the variation of DNA conformation. Any changes in DNA conformation will be reflected by the efficiency change of fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET). Quantitative analysis on the Ru(bpy)2dppz]2+-DNA interaction will be built in the second part. In the first part, the interaction of [Ru(bpy)2dppz]2+ with DNA is studied in a wide range of DNA / [Ru(bpy)2dppz]2+ ratios by using the luminescence signal which comes from complex. The affinity constant (Ka) is explored under different chloride sodium concentration (NaCl=[0, 100 mM]), when the complexation reaches equilibrium. Nishida method is employed to compute the value of Ka without any hypothesis. The value of affinity constant is at the level scale of 106 M-1 which is basically identical to the other researcher’s results. Ka decreased with increasing the concentration of NaCl as we expected. Quantitative analysis on the Ru(bpy)2dppz]2+-DNA interaction will be done in the second part. DNA was modified by different fluorophores at its extremities, 5’ end and 3’ end were labeled with alexa488 (seen as donor) and alexa568 (seen as acceptor), respectively. Our goal is to study the efficiency change of FRET and the change of distance between 2 fluorophores with fluorescence technique when one Ruthenium molecule intercalate in to DAN base pair. Two methods will be employed to achieve our idea. One is that the efficiency of FRET can be computed from the donor emission (alexa488), the other is the efficiency of FRET can be calculated from the acceptor emission (acceptor), the efficiency of FRET is highly dependent on the distance of 2 fluorophores (), any changes in distance will cause the efficiency change. The FRET efficiency decreased when the [Ru(bpy)2dppz]2+ intercalated into DNA structure, which also meant that the distance between 2 fluorohore increased.

Based on the linear relationship between concentration of H2O2 and the decrease of electrochemiluminescence (ECL) intensity in a Ru(bpy)32+/TPA system, procedures for the indirect determination of glucose with a flow injection analysis were developed. By passing solutions of glucose through a FIA system containing a glucose oxidase (GOx) immobilized sol-gel column and an ECL system of Ru(bpy)32+ and TPA, glucose can be determined optimally with a detection limit of 1.0 £gM in a linear dynamic range of 1.0 ¡V 200.0 £gM. A repetitive injection of glucose (100 £gM) and human serum solutions gave satisfactory reproducibility with relative standard deviations of 1.3 (N=31) and 3.9 % (N=42) respectively. Interference due to the presence of ascorbic acid, uric acid or other reducible agents in solution can be corrected by passing sample solutions through another sol-gel column that contained no GOx. From the agreement between the contents of glucose in human serum and soft drink analyzed by the developed method and those obtained by the spectroscopy method based glucose assay kit and satisfactory recovery of glucose from interferent containing solutions, the feasibility of the developed method for real sample analysis was confirmed. One of the major purposes of this study was to develop new immobilization approaches and flow cell designs for the fabrication of regenerable ECL-based sensors with improved sensitivity, convenience and long-term stability. Silica particulates were used as immobilization support in ECL sensors for TPA and NAD(P)H and in biosensors for glucose and glucose-6-phosphate¡]G6P¡^. The first ECL flow cell was fabricated from a glass tube, and a platinum wire was used as working electrode held at +1.3 V. The volume of the flow cell was about 50 £gL. An Ag/AgCl electrode and a piece of Pt wire were used as the reference and counter electrode respectively and placed downstream of the working electrode. Ru(bpy)32+ immobilized silica particulates with 1/3 silica sol content showed the best performance for TPA determination, and the sensitivity of TPA determination was dependent upon the amount of Ru(bpy)32+ immobilized in silica particulates. The lowest level of analyte detected for TPA was 0.02£gM, and linear range was from 0.02£gM to 5£gM. Up to a certain concentration level, it was found that Ru(bpy)32+ was tightly held in silica particulates and did not leach out into aqueous solutions, even with continuous flow for up to ten hours. Ru(bpy)32+ immobilized silica particulates were characterized of well activity and high stability; that stored at 0¢J exhibited its original activity for up to one year. The second ECL flow cell was fabricated from a piece of epoxy block supported Pt electrode (1 ¡Ñ 2 cm) as counter electrode, a piece glass window and a polyethylene spacer with 78 £gL cell volume, two 2.0-cm length of 0.6-mm diameter platinum wires were used as working electrodes held at +1.1 V, and an Ag/AgCl electrode as reference electrode. All three electrodes were incorporated within the main body of the cell. One of the biosensor design packed Ru(bpy)32+ incorporated silica particulates in the ECL flow cell, and a glucose dehydrogenase (GDH) immobilized silica sol-gel column is placed between the sample injection valve and the flow cell. The ECL response to samples containing glucose and cofactor (NADP) results from the Ru(bpy)33+ ECL reaction with NADPH produced by glucose dehydrogenase. This ECL biosensor was shown applicable for both NAD+- and NADP+- dependent enzymes, where NADH detection ranged from 0.50£gM ¡V 5.0 mM NADH and NADPH detection ranged from 1.0£gM - 3.0 mM NADPH. Glucose can be determined in a linear dynamic range of 5.0 - 500 £gM. Another biosensor design immobilized glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase¡]G6PDH¡^onto the Ru(bpy)32+ -doped silica particulates through silica chemistry and then packed these particulates into the ECL flow cell. By passing samples containing G6P and cofactor (NAD) through the ECL flow cell, G6P can be determined in a linear dynamic range of 10.0 £gM-1.0 mM. The regenerable ECL biosensor was characterized of good reproducibility and well stability for flow injection analysis. A repetitive injection of NADH (100 £gM) and G6P¡]500£gM¡^gave satisfactory reproducibility with relative standard deviations of 2.8 %¡]N=105¡^and 2.8 % (N=40) respectively.

Hydrogen fuel is one of the most important areas of research in the field of renewable energy development and production. Hydrogen gas can be generated by fuel cells, water electrolyzers, and heterogeneous nanoscale catalysts. It can be burned to directly release chemical energy or condensed for storage and transport, providing fuel for combustion devices or storing excess energy generated by renewable sources such as wind turbines and concentrated solar power assemblies. While platinum is the most active catalyst for hydrogen reduction, its high cost significantly deters its utilization in advanced photocatalytic materials. One approach to mitigating this expense is optimizing the morphology and placement of nanostructured platinum catalysts. Highly crystalline, morphologically-controlled platinum nanoparticles (Pt NPs) have been effectively utilized to increase hydrogen generation efficiency in a variety of nanocomposite materials. However, synthesis routes to high-quality Pt NPs can be dangerous and difficult to replicate. Furthermore, utilization of the Pt NPs in nanocomposite materials is hindered by lack of control over catalyst placement. Nanopeapods are versatile nanocomposites that offer a high degree of control over catalyst placement as well as the potential for interesting new properties arising from the interaction between the catalyst and a semiconductor. Platinum@hexaniobate nanopeapods (Pt@HNB NPPs) consist of linear arrays of Pt NPs encapsulated within the scrolled semiconductor hexaniobate. Pt@HNB NPPs offer significant advantages over similar composites by utilizing the isolated reduction environment of the encapsulated Pt NP arrays to decrease kinetic competition and surface crowding. This work describes the design, fabrication, and implementation of the new nanocomposite platinum@hexaniobate nanopeapods for sensitized hydrogen production under visible light irradiation. The following chapters present facile microwave heating syntheses of highly crystalline Pt nanocubes and Pt@HNB NPPs with consistent morphology and high catalyst loading. A detailed study is also presented of the optical properties of the Pt nanocubes, which produced a UV-range absorbance band that indicates the formation of a localized surface plasmon resonance. Most significantly, preliminary results from visible light photolysis indicate that sensitized Pt@HNB NPPs produce hydrogen in quantities comparable to published systems, and that alteration of experimental parameters may result in even greater yields.

Electron transfer, ET, and proton-coupled electron transfer, PCET, reactions are central to biological reactions involving catalysis, energy conversion and energy storage. The movement of electrons and protons in either a sequential or concerted manner are coupled in a series of elementary reaction steps in respiration and photosynthesis to harvest and convert energy consumed in foodstuffs or by absorption of light into high energy chemi-cal bonds in the form of ATP. These electron transfer processes may be modulated by conformational dynamics within the protein matrix or at the protein-protein interface, the energetics of which are still not well understood. Photoacoustic calorimetry is an estab-lished method of obtaining time-resolved reaction enthalpy and volume changes on the nanosecond to microsecond timescale. Photoacoustic calorimetry is used here to probe 1) the energetics and volume changes for ET between the self-assembled anionic uroporphy-rin:cytochrome c complex and the role of the observed volume changes in modulating ET within the complex, 2) the enthalpy and volume change for the excited state PCET reac-tion of a tyramine functionalized ruthenium(II) bis-(2,2'-bipyridine)(4-carboxy-4'-methyl-2,2'-bipyrine) meant to be a model for the tyrosine PCET chemistry carried out by cyto-chrome c oxidase and photosystem II, 3) the enthalpy and volume changes related to car-bon monoxide and tryptophan migration in heme tryptophan catabolic enzyme indoleam-ine 2,3-dioxygenase.

Femtosecond electron diffraction experiments were performed on solid state iron(II) tris(2,2'-bipyridine) bis(hexafluorophosphate). The cation is known to undergo a spin crossover process when solvated in water and irradiated with 400 nm coherent light which results in a transition from a low spin to high spin state within a picosecond which is accompanied by a uniform 0.2 Å Fe-N bond elongation. A femtosecond diffraction experiment was performed on the solid sample and was unable to find evidence of a fast spin crossover transition. Suspecting this may be due to limitations of the apparatus, an ultrafast transient absorption experiment was performed. Emulating the liquid study by Gawelda et al, the pump probe experiment found evidence of spin crossover in the solid state sample. This result awaits verification by an improved transient absorption apparatus and has inspired efforts to perform an improved femtosecond electron diffraction experiment.

Femtosecond electron diffraction experiments were performed on solid state iron(II) tris(2,2'-bipyridine) bis(hexafluorophosphate). The cation is known to undergo a spin crossover process when solvated in water and irradiated with 400 nm coherent light which results in a transition from a low spin to high spin state within a picosecond which is accompanied by a uniform 0.2 Å Fe-N bond elongation. A femtosecond diffraction experiment was performed on the solid sample and was unable to find evidence of a fast spin crossover transition. Suspecting this may be due to limitations of the apparatus, an ultrafast transient absorption experiment was performed. Emulating the liquid study by Gawelda et al, the pump probe experiment found evidence of spin crossover in the solid state sample. This result awaits verification by an improved transient absorption apparatus and has inspired efforts to perform an improved femtosecond electron diffraction experiment.

No description available.

Dans une première partie, nous mesurons l'affinité de l'interaction entre [Ru(pby)2dppz]2+ et l'ADN en utilisant la luminescence induite lors de la complexation. Nous étudions l'évolution de l'affinité lorsque la force ionique de la solution augmente. Dans une deuxième partie, nous modifions les extrémités d'un double brin d'ADN en y greffant des fluorophores. De la mesure de transfert d'énergie non-radiative entre ces fluorophores, nous étudions l'évolution de la longueur du complexe. Nous effectuons un dosage d'un double brin de 15 paires de bases d'ADN par le complexe ruthéné. Nous nous servons de la luminescence induite par l'intercalation du groupement dppz. Cependant, l'incrément de luminescence par groupement intercalé n'est pas connu, et nous ne pouvons pas le mesurer en saturant le brin d'ADN. Nous utilisons alors une technique mise au point par Nishida [Method for Measuring the Binding of Small Molecules to Proteins from Binding-Induced Alterations of Physical-Chemical Properties], dans laquelle deux titrations de deux solutions d'ADN de deux concentrations différentes sont effectuées. En utilisant le fait que, lorsque deux solutions d'ADN complexé par le composé ruthéné, possèdent la même luminescence par paire de base , le taux de complexation de ces deux solutions doit être le même, nous pouvons alors déterminer, sans hypothèse supplémentaire, le taux de complexation de l'ADN. De l'évolution de ce taux en fonction avec la concentration de ligand, nous déduisons son affinité pour l'ADN. Nous étudions maintenant le changement de longueur d'un double brin d'ADN de 15 paires de bases, modifié à ses deux extrémités par deux fluorophores : Alexa488 et Alexa568. Lorsque Alexa 488 est porté dans un état excité, il peut se désexciter en transférant de l'énergie de manière non-radiative à Alexa568, qui se désexcite alors en émettant des photons de plus faibles énergie que ceux émis par Alexa488. L'efficacité de ce transfert d'énergie peut être quantifié à partir de la mesure des intensités émises à basse et haute énergie. Elle dépend a priori de l'efficacité couplage (et en conséquence de la distance) entre les deux fluorophores. Nous effectuons des mesures de temps de vie des états excités de chacun des fluorophores. Nous avons observé que l'addition de ligand a pour conséquence une forte inhibition quenching des fluorophores. De l'analyse de l'évolution du temps de vie du fluorophore donneur d'une part et de celui du fluorophore accepteur d'autre part, nous déduisons l'évolution de l'efficacité du transfert d'énergie en fonction de la concentration de ligand. Nous confrontons les résultats obtenus par chacune de ces analyses, et en déduisons finalement, en nous servant de l'analyse de l'équilibre effectuée dans la première partie, l'évolution de la longueur de la chaîne en fonction du taux de complexation