Porphyrin/Nucleic Acid Interactions in Solution

该奖项由无机，生物无机和有机化学 化学计划将支持本科生的研究 卟啉与DNA的相互作用。卟啉是金属 将铁保持在血红蛋白中的结合部分， 肌红蛋白和叶绿素中的镁。的一个主要目标 项目是卟啉/DNA聚集体的直接可视化 使用最近开发的扫描隧道显微镜。 可见-紫外光谱，荧光，圆 二向色性和扫描隧道显微镜将用于 研究相互作用的结构和性质 在长距离，高度组织的卟啉聚集体中， DNA，使用金属卟啉以及游离碱 卟啉，其这种聚集体先前被观察到。 这些相互作用的动力学将使用 古典和放松技巧的结合。此外 提供有关结构、机制的信息 聚集体的形成和化学反应性， 实验结果有望为 催化氧化反应中心的构建 解决方案中的过程。

This award from the Inorganic, Bioinorganic and Organometallic Chemistry Program will support undergraduate research on the interaction of porphyrins with DNA. Porphyrins are the metal binding moieties which hold the iron in hemoglobin and myoglobin and the magnesium in chlorophyll. A major goal of the project is the direct visualization of porphyrin/DNA aggregates using the recently-developed scanning tunneling microscope. Visible-ultraviolet spectroscopy, fluorescence, circular dichroism and scanning tunneling microscopy will be used to investigate the structures and the nature of the interactions in long-range, highly-organized aggregates of porphyrins with DNA, using metalloporphyrins as well as the free-base porphyrins for which such aggregates were observed previously. The kinetics of these interactions will be investigated using a combination of classical and relaxation techniques. In addition to providing information about the structures, mechanism of formation and chemical reactivities of the aggregates, the experimental results are expected to provide the basis for the construction of reaction centers for catalysis of oxidation processes in solution.