RUI: Structure and Assembly Kinetics of Supramolecular Systems

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In this RUI project supported by the Experimental Physical Chemistry Program of the Chemistry Division and the Molecular Biophysics Program of the Division of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences, an integrated approach will be employed to characterize supramolecular assemblies using Resonance Light Scattering (RLS) and other spectroscopic and kinetic techniques, such as absorption spectroscopy, circular dichroism, resonance Raman, and static and dynamic light scattering. Much of the effort will focus on systems involving meso-structures or assembly-to-assembly interactions. The approach will involve studies of assembly structure, the kinetics of assembly formation, and organizations of assemblies. The assemblies of principal interest are biological molecules, such as DNA and peptides with porphyrin chromophores and chromophore assemblies in bacterial chlorosomes. However porphyrin- and phthalocyanine-containing fibers, films and liquid crystals will also be examined. The project is an inter-institutional effort involving Swarthmore, Haverford, and Goucher Colleges. Studies of large macromolecular aggregates form a basis for exploring the structure of ordered systems involved in various biochemical and materials science applications. This project will increase understanding of the structure of chlorosomes, which are the light-harvesting apparatus of green photosynthetic bacteria, as well as of liquid crystals and thin films. The latter two materials find application in sensors, solar collectors, and nonlinear optical devices.