CIDNP study of photoinduced electron transfer in His-Glu-Tyr-Gly peptide and its conjugate His-Gln(BP)-Tyr-Gly

Abstract Photoinduced intramolecular electron transfer (ET) is essential for understanding charge transport in biological and synthetic systems. This study examines ET in peptide His-Glu-Tyr-Gly (1) and the conjugate His-Gln(BP)-Tyr-Gly (2) with benzophenone (BP) as a photoactive electron acceptor and His or Tyr as donors. Time-resolved and field-dependent chemically induced dynamic nuclear polarization (CIDNP) techniques were employed to investigate ET mechanisms and kinetics. Peptide 1 with 3,3’,4,4’-tetracarboxy benzophenone as a photosensitizer initially forms two types of radical with radical center at either His or Tyr residue, the consequent intra- and intermolecular ET electron transfer from Tyr residue to the His radical takes place with rate constants k e(intra) =(1.5±0.5)×10 5 s − 1 and k e(inter) =(1.3±0.4)×10 7 M − 1 s − 1 at pH 8.8. Conjugate 2 forms two types of biradicals under irradiation: with radical centers at Tyr and BP across the entire pH range, and with radical centers at His and BP at slightly basic pH. Field-dependent CIDNP revealed nonzero electronic exchange interaction (2J ex = − 8.78 mT) at acidic pH, indicating proximity between BP and Tyr radicals. Low-field CIDNP spectra showed strong emissive polarization patterns, with pH-dependent exchange interaction and biradical geometry. Notably, no electron transfer from tyrosine to histidine radicals was observed in the conjugate 2, distinguishing its behavior from peptide 1.