Electron and Proton Transfer in Chemistry and Biology: (v. 78 Studies in Physical and Theoretical Chemistry)

Various aspects of electron and proton transfer in chemistry and biology are described in this volume. The joint presentation was chosen for two reasons. Rapid electron and proton transfer govern cellular energetics in both the most primitive and higher organisms with photosynthetic and heterotrophic lifestyles. Further, biology has become the area where the various disciplines of science, which were previously diversified, are once again converging. The book begins with a survey of physicochemical principles of electron transfer in the gas and solid phase, with thermodynamic and photochemical driving force. Inner and outer sphere mechanisms and the coupling of electron transfer to nuclear rearrangements are reviewed. These principles are applied to construct artificial photosynthesis, leading to biological electron transfer involving proteins with transition metal and/or organic redox centres. The tuning of the free energy profile on the reaction trajectory through the protein by single amino acids or by the larger ensemble that determines the electrostatic properties of the reaction path is one major issue. Another one is the transformation of one-electron to paired-electron steps with protection against hazardous radical intermediates. The diversity of electron transport systems is represented in various chapters with emphasis on photosynthesis, respiration and nitrogenases. The book will be of interest to scientists in chemistry, physics and the life sciences.

Table of Contents:
Mechanisms of Electron Transfer (R.D. Cannon). Electron Transfer Effect in Chemical Compounds (B. Jezowska-Trzebiatowska and W. Wojciechowski). Light Induced Electron Transfer of Metal Complexes (A. Vogler and H. Kunkely). Coordinative Aspects of Single Electron Exchange between Main Group or Transition Metal Compounds and Unsaturated Organic Substrates (W. Kaim). Electron Hopping and Delocalization in Mixed-Valence Metal-Oxygen Clusters (H. So and M.T. Pope). Electron Transfer in Semiconducting Colloids and Membranes, Applications in Artificial Photosynthesis (M. Gratzel). Electron Transfer in Photosynthetic Reaction Centers (Ch.C. Moser et al.). Exchange Interaction in Electron Transfer Proteins and their Model Compounds (W. Haase and S. Gehring). Multi-Electron Transfer Processes in Nitrogen Fixation and other Natural Systems (D.J. Lowe). Electron Transfer in Anaerobic Microorganisms (A. Kroger et al.). The Importance of Inhibitors as an Analytic Tool for the Study of the Quinol Oxidation Centre and the Quinol Oxidase Reaction (G. von Jagow and U. Brandt). Electron and Proton Transfer through the Mitochondrial Respiratory Chain (T.A. Link). Coupled Proton and Electron Transfer Pathways in the Acceptor Quinone Complex of Reaction Centers from Rhodobacter Sphaeroides (E. Takahashi et al.). The Water Oxidizing Enzyme - An Alternative Model (E.K. Pistorius). Proton Pumps, Proton Flow and Proton ATP Synthases in Photosynthesis of Green Plants (W. Junge et al.). Diffusion of Proton in Microscopic Space: Effect of Geometric Constraints and Dielectric Discontinuities (M. Gutman et al.). Protonation of the Schiff Base Chromophore in Rhodopsins (C. Sandorfy). Proton Transfer along the Hydrogen Bridge in Some Hydrogen-Bonded Molecular Complexes (H. Ratajczak). Hydrogen-Bonded Systems with Large Proton Polarizability due to Collective Proton Motion as Pathways of Protons in Biological Systems (G. Zundel). NMR Studies of Multiple Proton and Deuteron Transfers in Liquids, Crystals and Organic Glasses (H.-H. Limbach). Proton Transfer Reactions in Solutions: A Molecular Approach (D. Borgis). Recent Developments in Solitonic Model of Proton Transfer in Quasi-One-Dimensional Infinite Hydrogen-Bonded Systems (E. Kryachko). Index of Contributing Authors. Subject Index.