UCR's Office of Research and Economic Development (RED) has announced over $1.7 million in competitive funding for faculty research projects through its Opportunity to Advance Sustainability Innovation and Social Inclusion initiative, known as OASIS. The projects range from probing the severity of COVID-19 infection in Riverside County, through sustainability and resilience in agriculture; to finding ways to mine lithium needed for electric car batteries from brine below the Salton Sea.
Researchers Observe Picosecond Charge Transfer in Peptides
Written by AZoMApr 15 2021
The transfer of electrons between molecules forms the basis of biological energy flows, for example, in photosynthesis and respiration.
The extended peptide (top) does not mediate charge transfer (detectable charge transfer). The folded peptide (bottom) mediates picosecond charge transfer along the hydrogen bonds between the donor and the acceptor (the hydrogen bonds are indicated with thin red dotted lines). Image Credit: Valentine Vullev.
Although electron transfer is crucial for sustaining life, factors that determine its rate, particularly over long distances, are not clearly understood since the systems that mediate these ultrafast processes are highly complicated.
E-Mail
Biological energy flows, such as in photosynthesis and respiration, depend on the transfer of electrons from one molecule to another. Despite its importance to sustaining life, factors governing the rate of electron transfer, especially over long distances, are not well understood because the systems that mediate such ultrafast processes are very complex. A better understanding of electron transfer rates would help scientists improve chemical transformations, energy conversion, electronic devices, and photonic technologies.
Now, an international team of researchers led by UC Riverside has observed picosecond charge transfer mediated by hydrogen bonds in peptides. A picosecond is one trillionth of a second. As short-chain analogs of proteins, crucially important building blocks of living organisms, peptides are chains of chemically linked amino acids. The discovery shows the role of hydrogen bonds in electron transfer. The results are published in