Self-aggregation of naturally occurring bacteriochlorophyll (BChl)-e in nonpolar organic solvents was investigated by visible absorption, fluorescence emission and circular dichroism spectra. Cultured brown-colored photosynthetic bacteria have several BChl-e as light-harvesting antenna pigments. Three major BChl-e homologs were separated from the extracts of the culture by reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and characterized by 1H-NMR and fast-atom bombardment mass spectroscopy: 8-ethyl-12-ethyl ([E,E])-, 8-propyl-12-ethyl- and 8-isobutyl-12-ethyl-BChl-e farnesyl esters. All the homologs consisted of a mixture of the 31-epimers, and epimerically pure BChl-e were also given by HPLC separation. All the separated BChl-e epimers, the epimeric mixtures and the homologous mixtures formed self-aggregates in 2% dichloromethane/hexane, giving visible absorption spectra similar to that of the whole cells, which showed two peaks (or shoulders) around 430–450 and 520 nm at the Soret region as well as a red-shifted Qy band relative to the monomeric. The spectral properties of the Soret band were basically unchanged among the epimers or epimeric/homologous mixtures. In contrast, the Qy band of aggregates of epimeric mixtures (except [E,E]) and homologous mixtures red-shifted and broadened compared with the epimerically pure. The red-shift and broadening of the Qy band are advantageous for efficient energy transfer from BChl-e aggregates to BChl-a in a baseplate in chlorosomes because their spectral overlap increases.
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1 July 2001
Spectroscopic Studies on Self-aggregation of Bacteriochlorophyll-e in Nonpolar Organic Solvents: Effects of Stereoisomeric Configuration at the 31-Position and Alkyl Substituents at the 81-Position
Yoshitaka Saga,
Katsumi Matsuura,
Hitoshi Tamiaki
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Photochemistry and Photobiology
Vol. 74 • No. 1
July 2001
Vol. 74 • No. 1
July 2001