Precisely tuneable energy transfer system using peptoid helix-based molecular scaffold

Boyeong Kang; Woojin Yang; Sebok Lee; Sudipto Mukherjee; Jonathan Forstater; Hanna Kim; Byoungsook Goh; Tae-Young Kim; Vincent A Voelz; Yoonsoo Pang; Jiwon Seo

doi:10.1038/s41598-017-04727-0

Precisely tuneable energy transfer system using peptoid helix-based molecular scaffold

Sci Rep. 2017 Jul 6;7(1):4786. doi: 10.1038/s41598-017-04727-0.

Authors

Boyeong Kang¹, Woojin Yang¹, Sebok Lee¹, Sudipto Mukherjee², Jonathan Forstater², Hanna Kim¹, Byoungsook Goh¹, Tae-Young Kim^{1

3}, Vincent A Voelz⁴, Yoonsoo Pang⁵, Jiwon Seo⁶

Affiliations

¹ Department of Chemistry, School of Physics and Chemistry, Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology, 123 Cheomdan-gwagiro, Buk-gu, Gwangju, 61005, South Korea.
² Department of Chemistry, Temple University, 1901 N. 13th St., Philadelphia, PA 19122, USA.
³ School of Earth Sciences and Engineering, Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology, 123 Cheomdan-gwagiro, Buk-gu, Gwangju, 61005, South Korea.
⁴ Department of Chemistry, Temple University, 1901 N. 13th St., Philadelphia, PA 19122, USA. voelz@temple.edu.
⁵ Department of Chemistry, School of Physics and Chemistry, Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology, 123 Cheomdan-gwagiro, Buk-gu, Gwangju, 61005, South Korea. ypang@gist.ac.kr.
⁶ Department of Chemistry, School of Physics and Chemistry, Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology, 123 Cheomdan-gwagiro, Buk-gu, Gwangju, 61005, South Korea. jseo@gist.ac.kr.

Abstract

The energy flow during natural photosynthesis is controlled by maintaining the spatial arrangement of pigments, employing helices as scaffolds. In this study, we have developed porphyrin-peptoid (pigment-helix) conjugates (PPCs) that can modulate the donor-acceptor energy transfer efficiency with exceptional precision by controlling the relative distance and orientation of the two pigments. Five donor-acceptor molecular dyads were constructed using zinc porphyrin and free base porphyrin (Zn(i + 2)-Zn(i + 6)), and highly efficient energy transfer was demonstrated with estimated efficiencies ranging from 92% to 96% measured by static fluorescence emission in CH₂Cl₂ and from 96.3% to 97.6% using femtosecond transient absorption measurements in toluene, depending on the relative spatial arrangement of the donor-acceptor pairs. Our results suggest that the remarkable precision and tunability exhibited by nature can be achieved by mimicking the design principles of natural photosynthetic proteins.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

Biomimetics
Energy Transfer*
Metalloporphyrins / chemistry
Methylene Chloride
Molecular Structure
Peptoids / chemistry*
Photosynthesis
Porphyrins / chemistry
Toluene
Ultraviolet Rays

Substances

Metalloporphyrins
Peptoids
Porphyrins
zinc hematoporphyrin
Toluene
Methylene Chloride