A focus of this symposium is the coupling solar energy to the production of stable molecules that can be used as fuels.  This requires an inexpensive source of electrons, with water the optimal source, producing electrons and protons, with molecular oxygen as a byproduct.  Nature integrates all of these functions into the Photosystem II reaction center.  Chemists are including components of this chemistry in artificial water splitting systems.  On the other end, the electrons and protons need to be converted to a stable 'fuel', with molecular hydrogen being the simplest version.  The class of enzymes that carry out this reaction is hydrogenase, and chemists have designed a variety of synthetic catalysts as well.  These enzymes and catalysts cycle through paramagnetic intermediates, and our laboratory is using multifrequency pulse EPR to study a wide variety of such systems, several of which will be highlighted in this presentation.

Pulse EPR studies of water oxidizing and proton reducing enzymes and catalysts

244th National Meeting (2012)

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