RUI: Structure and Assembly Kinetics of Supramolecular Systems

在这个由化学学部实验物理化学项目和分子与细胞生物科学学部分子生物物理项目支持的RUI项目中，将采用共振光散射（RLS）和其他光谱和动力学技术（如吸收光谱、圆二色、共振拉曼、静态和动态光散射）来综合表征超分子组装。大部分工作将集中在涉及介观结构或装配对装配相互作用的系统上。该方法将涉及装配结构、装配形成动力学和装配组织的研究。主要关注的是生物分子，如DNA和带有卟啉发色团的肽，以及细菌叶绿体中的发色团。然而，含卟啉和酞菁的纤维、薄膜和液晶也将被检查。该项目是一个跨机构的努力，涉及斯沃斯莫尔，哈弗福德和古彻学院。对大分子聚集体的研究是探索各种生物化学和材料科学应用中涉及的有序系统结构的基础。这个项目将增加对叶绿体结构的理解，叶绿体是绿色光合细菌的光收集装置，以及液晶和薄膜。后两种材料在传感器、太阳能收集器和非线性光学器件中得到应用。

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.