ENDOR studies of π-electron delocalization in covalently linked porphyrin dimers. Model systems for the primary donor in photosynthesis?

Abstract

The spin density distributions in the cation radicals of various covalently linked tetraphenyl porphyrin dimers and of their monomeric constituents have been studied by liquid-phase EPR, ENDOR and TRIPLE resonance methods to find out whether the dimer systems show intramolecular electron delocalization. Such delocalization is known to occur in the bacteriochlorophyll dimer (‘special pair’) in photosynthetic reaction centres. The dimers studied in this work are derived from zinc meso-tetraphenylporphyrin (ZnTPP) moieties linked either by a phenyl ring at para and meta positions or by a —CH₂— bridge at para positions. ¹H and ¹⁴N hyperfine coupling constants were measured for the dimer and ZnTPP cation radicals. By comparing the hyperfine data it was concluded that in the phenyl-bridged porphyrin dimers the unpaired electron is delocalized over the dimer halves (similar to the ‘special pair’) whereas in the CH₂-bridged dimer the unpaired electron is localized on one porphyrin unit.