ABSTRACT
Here we present the development of a subpicosecond spectropolarimeter enabling high sensitivity balanced detection of time-resolved circular dichroism (TRCD) signals from chiral sample in solution. The signals are measured with a conventional femtosecond pump-probe set-up using the combination of a quarter-waveplate and a Wollaston prism. This simple and robust method allows access to TRCD signals with improved signal-to-noise ratio and very short acquisition times. We provide a theoretical analysis of the artifacts of such detection geometry and the strategy to eliminate them. We illustrate the potential of this new detection with the study of the [Ru(phen)3]·2PF6 complexes in acetonitrile.
ABSTRACT
Time-resolved circular dichroism has been developed for a few decades to investigate rapid conformational changes in (bio)molecules. In our group, we have come up with several experimental set-ups allowing us to study pico-nanosecond local phenomena in molecular systems as well as much slower effects occurring in proteins and DNA in the folding processes. After an overview of the worldwide realizations in this domain, we present emblematic experiments that we have carried out, spanning time domain from picoseconds to seconds.
ABSTRACT
In aqueous solution, cyclodextrins (CDs) are able to bind strongly either hydrophobic species or also hydrophilic molecules such as octahedral hexametallic cluster. Systematic investigation of the reactivity between native CDs (α- or ß-CD) and water-soluble rhenium clusters [Re6Q8(CN)6]4- with Q = S, Se, and Te were performed, leading to six new crystal structures revealing different types of supramolecular arrangements. Encapsulation of [Re6Q8(CN)6]4- (Q = S, Se, or Te) within two ß-CDs is observed regardless of the cluster size. Interestingly, different assembling scenarios are pointed out depending on the host-guest matching featured by no, partial, or deep inclusion complexes that involved either primary or secondary rim of the CD tori. In the specific case of α-CD, only the smaller cluster [Re6S8(CN)6]4- is able to form inclusion complex with the tori host. Solution investigations, using a set of complementary techniques including isothermal titration calorimetry, multinuclear NMR methods, cyclic voltammetry, and electrospray ionization mass spectrometry, corroborate nicely conclusions of the solid-state studies. It appears clearly that size-matching supported by solvent effects play key roles in the stability of the host-guest complexes. At last, circular dichroism studies underline that the chirality induction from cyclodextrins to the rhenium cluster depends strongly on the strength of host-guest interactions.
ABSTRACT
G-quadruplexes (G4) are four-stranded DNA/RNA structures playing a key role in many biological functions and promising for nanotechnology applications. Here, combining theoretical calculations and multiscale time-resolved fluorescence, we describe, for the first time, an ensemble of photoactivated processes involving the guanines of the G4 core. We use as showcase the G4 formed by the human telomeric sequence GGG(TTAGGG)3 in the presence of Na+ ions. According to quantum mechanical/molecular mechanics calculations, the hyperchromism at the red part of the absorption spectrum, typical of G4 structures, arises mainly from the inner Na+ ions. Various relaxation pathways, leading to excited states localized on individual bases, neutral excimers, and excited charge transfer states between two guanines or a guanine and a thymine in the loop, are mapped. Their fingerprints are detected in the fluorescence anisotropies and the fluorescence decays, spanning five decades of time. Finally, a reaction funnel leading to guanine dimerization is identified.
ABSTRACT
Time-resolved circular dichroism (TR-CD) is a powerful tool for probing conformational dynamics of biomolecules over large time scales that are crucial for establishing their structure-function relationship. However, such experiments, notably in the femtosecond regime, remain challenging due to their extremely weak signals, prone to polarization artifacts. By using binol and two bridged derivatives (PL1 and PL2) as chiral prototypes, we present here the first comprehensive study of this type in the middle UV, combining femtosecond TR-CD and quantum mechanical calculations (TD-DFT). We show that excitation of the three compounds induces large variations of their transient CD signals, in sharp contrast to those of their achiral transient absorption. We demonstrate that these variations arise from both the alteration of the electronic distribution and the dihedral angle in the excited state. These results highlight the great sensitivity of TR-CD detection to signals hardly accessible to achiral transient absorption.