CRC: DNA Photonics

弗雷德里克·D刘易斯，乔治C. Schatz，Michael R. Wasielewski（都在西北大学），Torsten Fiebig（波士顿学院）和亚历山大L。Burin（杜兰大学）共同支持对DNA电子结构的研究。 更具体的目标包括调查的核和电子结构的短，定义明确的双链体碱基对域在地面和电子激发态;和调查的结构和电子变化时发生的氧化或还原的双链体域。该团队将研究定制设计的发夹和哑铃结构中的短稳定碱基对结构域。实验方法包括分子设计与合成、光谱学、时间分辨瞬态吸收光谱、时间分辨EPR光谱、分子动力学、时间分辨圆二色性、时间分辨电子顺磁共振、和电子结构计算。大卫Tiede（阿贡国家实验室）也将与该团队合作，并带来时间分辨衍射技术的专业知识。DNA的结构和功能完整性对其在生物学中的作用至关重要，因此该项目将提供有关光和化学试剂如何在DNA中引入反应位点的基本信息，这些反应位点改变了DNA的结构并可能改变其功能。 这项合作的预期成果包括阐明中性和电离的短DNA碱基对结构域的性质，在一个重要的跨学科领域培训本科生和研究生，并提供一个模型，为具有不同经验和不同研究环境的研究人员之间的连锁合作。该项目得到了化学合作研究项目的支持。

Frederick D. Lewis, George C. Schatz, Michael R. Wasielewski (all at Northwestern University), Torsten Fiebig (Boston College) and Alexander L. Burin (Tulane University) are jointly supported for research into the electronic structure of DNA. More specific objectives include the investigation of the nuclear and electronic structure of short, well-defined duplex base pair domains in both the ground and electronically excited states; and investigation of the structural and electronic changes which occur upon the oxidation or reduction of duplex domains. The team will study short stable base pair domains in custom-designed hairpin and dumbbell structures. A wide range of state-of-the-art time-resolved spectroscopic, computational, and structural techniques will be used to probe how the structural changes within DNA are coupled to the properties of excited and ion states within it. Experimental approaches include molecular design and synthesis, spectroscopy, time-resolved transient absorption spectroscopy, time-resolved EPR spectroscopy, molecular dynamics, time-resolved circular dichroism, and electronic structure calculations. David Tiede (Argonne National Laboratory) will also collaborate with the team and bring expertise in time-resolved diffraction techniques. The structural and functional integrity of DNA is critical to its role in biology, so that this project will provide fundamental information on how light and chemical agents introduce reactive sites within DNA, which change its structure and potentially alter its function. The anticipated outcomes of this collaboration include elucidation of the properties of neutral and ionized short DNA base-pair domains, training of undergraduate and graduate students in an important interdisciplinary area, and providing a model for interlocking collaboration among investigators with varying experience and in different research environments. This project is supported by the Collaborative Research in Chemistry Program.