An artificial molecular switch that mimics the visual pigment and completes its photocycle in picoseconds

Single molecules that act as light-energy transducers (e.g., converting the energy of a photon into atomic-level mechanical motion) are examples of minimal molecular devices. Here, we focus on a molecular switch designed by merging a conformationally locked diarylidene skeleton with a retinal-like S...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS Vol. 105; no. 46; p. 17642
Main Authors: Sinicropi, Adalgisa, Martin, Elena, Ryazantsev, Mikhail, Helbing, Jan, Briand, Julien, Sharma, Divya, Léonard, Jérémie, Haacke, Stefan, Cannizzo, Andrea, Chergui, Majed, Zanirato, Vinicio, Fusi, Stefania, Santoro, Fabrizio, Basosi, Riccardo, Ferré, Nicolas, Olivucci, Massimo
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: United States 18.11.2008
Subjects:
Isomerism
Molecular Mimicry
Photochemistry
Retinal Pigments - chemistry
Spectrophotometry, Ultraviolet
Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared
Time Factors
ISSN:1091-6490, 1091-6490
Online Access:Get more information
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Single molecules that act as light-energy transducers (e.g., converting the energy of a photon into atomic-level mechanical motion) are examples of minimal molecular devices. Here, we focus on a molecular switch designed by merging a conformationally locked diarylidene skeleton with a retinal-like Schiff base and capable of mimicking, in solution, different aspects of the transduction of the visual pigment Rhodopsin. Complementary ab initio multiconfigurational quantum chemistry-based computations and time-resolved spectroscopy are used to follow the light-induced isomerization of the switch in methanol. The results show that, similar to rhodopsin, the isomerization occurs on a 0.3-ps time scale and is followed by <10-ps cooling and solvation. The entire (2-photon-powered) switch cycle was traced by following the evolution of its infrared spectrum. These measurements indicate that a full cycle can be completed within 20 ps.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-2
content type line 23
ISSN:1091-6490
1091-6490
DOI:10.1073/pnas.0802376105