Biochemistry, Biophysics, and Structural Biology Commons^™

Broken-Hearted” Carbon Bowl Via Electron Shuttle Reaction: Energetics And Electron Coupling, Gabrielle A. Leith, Allison M. Rice, Brandon J. Yarbrough, Preecha Kittikhunnatham, Abijai Mathur, Nicholas A. Morris, Megan J. Francis, Anna A. Berseneva, Poonam Dhull, Richard D. Adams, M. Victoria Bobo, Aaron A. Vannucci, Mark D. Smith, Sophya Garashchuk, Natalia B. Shustova

Faculty Publications

Unprecedented one-step CC bond cleavage leading to opening of the buckybowl (π-bowl), that could provide access to carbon-rich structures with previously inaccessible topologies, is reported; highlighting the possibility to implement drastically different synthetic routes to π-bowls in contrast to conventional ones applied for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Through theoretical modeling, we evaluated the mechanistic pathways feasible for π-bowl planarization and factors that could affect such a transformation including strain and released energies. Through employment of Marcus theory, optical spectroscopy, and crystallographic analysis, we estimated the possibility of charge transfer and electron coupling between “open” corannulene and a strong electron acceptor such …