David H. Waldeck (University of Pittsburgh), Catalina Achim (Carnegie Mellon University), David N. Beratan (Duke University), Eric U. Borguet (Temple University) and Marcela Madrid (Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center) are jointly supported to study the electron transfer processes in peptide nucleic acid (PNA)-based structures. The team will study the properties of PNAs that contain paramagnetic transition metal ions in well-defined locations. The team will use experimental (i.e., spectroscopy, microscopy and electrochemistry) and theoretical (i.e., molecular dynamics simulations and quantum chemistry) methods to study the electron transport properties of these nanoscale assemblies as a function of the overall length, the nature of the metal ion, and the distance between metal centers in the PNA scaffold. Other properties of the metal ion, such as coordination and reduction potential, can also affect the electron transfer and these means of control will be explored systematically.
Electron transfer is a fundamental chemical process critical to natural processes, such as energy conversion in photosynthesis, and synthetic systems, such as transistors. This work has possible implications for developing molecular-scale electronics and bioelectronics, as well as for establishing the concepts that are of fundamental importance for future advances of this kind. This project is funded through the Collaborative Research in Chemistry Program (CRC) and provides outstanding opportunities for undergraduate, graduate and postdoctoral students to acquire knowledge and skills in supramolecular chemistry, biophysics and computational modeling. The team of researchers also offers outreach programs to interest local students in science.
