International Collaboration in Chemistry on Photochemistry & Redox-Properties of Chlorophyll-Catabolites

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This International Collaboration in Chemistry (ICC) award in the Chemistry of Life Processes (CLP) program in the Division of Chemistry, with supplemental funds provided by the Office of International Science and Engineering (OISE) at NSF, supports collaborative work by Professor Nicholas J. Turro of Columbia University and Professor Bernhard Kraeutler of the University of Innsbruck, who is supported by the Austrian Science Foundation, to carry out fundamental studies on chlorophyll degradation. Chlorophyll, because of its role in photosynthesis in plants, is one of the most important and best studied molecules in the life sciences. The team at the University of Innsbruck investigates "how" chlorophyll is degraded in leaves and in fruit by isolating and characterizing chlorophyll degradation products. The principal investigator at Columbia and his international team study the important photochemistry of chlorophyll degradation products. Investigation of the photochemistry of the degradation products of chlorophyll may provide an understanding of "why" these naturally formed degradation products are produced in enormous quantities every year. Since some of these natural products emit visible light after being excited by ultraviolet light this phenomenon provides a new means of obtaining insights into cell death processes of plants in a non-invasive manner by photoluminescence.The broader impacts of the proposal are significant and range from the training of students to a fundamental understanding of the role that chlorophyll degradation products may have on a variety of biological processes. The PI at Columbia has initiated an internet collaboration laboratory (iCollaboratory) to promote the use of audiovisual techniques to communicate with his research collaborators in the United States and abroad.