‘Science’ publishes a new work by researchers from IBM Research (Switzerland), CiQUS (Spain) and the company ExxonMobil (USA), that has made possible to image molecules in different charge states for the first time.
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The energy conversion and transport in living systems are based on loading and unloading of certain molecules. Suffice it to quote the family of porphyrins, among which are well-known compounds such as chlorophyll or the nucleus of hemoglobin, whose charge transfers are essential for life. The charge transitions also play a crucial role in photovoltaic and electronic devices. In fact, when a molecule receives a charge, structural transformations take place, changing the functions of the molecule as well. Understand these structural changes in molecules allows not only to increase the knowledge of the fundamental relationships, but also opens a new field of unexplored experimental research to date.
With this purpose in mind, a team of scientists led by IBM Research in Zurich (Switzerland), in collaboration with CiQUS resdearcher Diego Peña and the multinational company ExxonMobil, has just published in the renowned journal Science a new work that allows real time observation, and with unprecedented resolution, of the structural changes produced when charging individual molecules
With this purpose in mind, a team of scientists led by IBM Research, in Zurich (Switzerland), in collaboration with CiQUS Researcher Diego Peña and the multinational oil company ExxonMobil, has just published in the renowned journal Science a new work that allows real time observation, and with unprecedented resolution, of the structural changes produced when charging individual molecules.
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This new step reveals some of the mysteries of the relationships between molecular charge and functionality, offering clues about the energy transport and conversion processess in biological environments.
Creation of new knowledge through basic research
«We have implemented an improvement in the technique that allows us to visualize charged molecules; and what is more important, not only visualize them, but simultaneously manipulate their load on demand ", says Diego Peña from CiQUS (Center for Research in Biological Chemistry and Molecular Materials of the University of Santiago de Compostela).
Leo Gross, the IBM researcher leading this research, argues that"The most interesting molecule we investigated is porphine, the parent compound of chlorophyll and hemoglobin. How these molecules change their conjugation pathway is controversial and it is highly important to understand their functions. For the first time, we could visualize changes in conjugation pathway and aromaticity of porphine in three different charge states".
This new technique will allow to increase the understanding of how charge alters structure and function of molecules, which vital in so many ways, such as to photoconversion and energy transport in living organisms.
Diego Peña, responsible for the Spanish contribution, claims "It is a step forward in our eagerness to understand and control the key processes of the molecular world, which may help to develop more efficient photovoltaic cells or even, someday, artificial photosynthesis" .