User:Cganski/sandbox

With the exception of a few sentences, I completed the majority of the sections below regarding Wolfgang Lubitz's research. I also contributed a large portion of the publications section, also included below, and organized it by date.

• Catalytic metal centers in metalloproteins

Lubitz performed research in the development of methods to synthesize heme proteins to be used by other researchers in studies of metalloproteins which catalyze biological and organic processes, particularly photosystems, in regards to which Lubitz also studied de novo designed peptides

• Process of photosynthesis

By coupling the ENDOR techniques his lab pioneered combined with high resolution XRay structures and high sensitivity magnetic resonance techniques his group was able to expand on previous work illuminating the pathway of electrons in the photosynthetic cycle. Particularly on the action of a Mn4O5Ca complex involved in the water splitting process, being able to determine the interactions of each substrate and all of the transition states within that part of the photosynthetic process. His work on hydrogenases continued as he examined the process with [NiFe], [FeFe], and [Fe] in the active site rather than the Mn complex. This research contributed to the study of method of obtaining hydrogen as a fuel without the extremely inefficient and environmentally damaging processes of breaking down hydrocarbons, e.g. burning fossil fuels and producing CO2. Instead, Lubitz advocated looking to hydrogen-producing processes in nature, namely processes using the enzyme hydrogenase in microorganisms. In pursuing this research, he developed crystallization and purification methods in order to produce the single crystals containing the metal centers described above that would allow extremely precise measurements to be taken using spectroscopy and crystallography, shedding light on the precise location of the atomic components of the hydrogenases. Lubitz went on to apply quantum principles to this subject in order to examine the specific mechanisms involved in bond-breaking between hydrogen and its compounds in which electrons are unevenly distributed among the products.

• Electron Paramagnetic Resonance

His ENDOR based techniques started as a way to map spin density in paramagnetic species while at the Freie Universtitat. Current research is focused on understanding the full means of energy extraction in the Photosynthetic pathway and potential applications thereof. Using electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) techniques, Lubitz examined the transfer of electrons in the bacterial reaction center, which contains the proteins and cofactors that enable photosynthesis to occur. His work in this area is crucial to an understanding of organic methods of harnessing solar energy.

• Publications (more to be added)
  • Hydride Bridge in [NiFe]-hydrogenase Observed by Nuclear Resonance Vibrational Spectroscopy, Nat. Commun. (2015)
  • Enhancing Hydrogen Production of Microalgae by Redirecting Electrons from Photosystem I to Hydrogenase, Energy Environ. (2014)
  • A Redox Hydrogel Protects Hydrogenase from High Potential Deactivation and Oxygen Damage. (2014)
  • Hydrogenases (2014)
  • Direct Observation of Structurally Encoded Metal Discrimination and Ether Bond Formation in a Heterodinuclear Metalloprotein (2013)
  • Biomimetic assembly and activation of [FeFe]-hydrogenases (2013)
  • Biological water oxidation (2013)
  • A model of the [FeFe] hydrogenase active site with a biologically relevant azadithiolate bridge: a spectroscopic and theoretical investigation (2011)
  • Intermediates in the catalytic cycle of [NiFe] hydrogenase: functional spectroscopy of the active site (2010)
  • A New Quantum Chemical Approach to the Magnetic Properties of Oligonuclear Transition‐Metal Complexes: Application to a Model for the Tetranuclear Manganese Cluster of Photosystem II (2009)
  • 14N HYSCORE investigation of the H-cluster of [FeFe] hydrogenase: evidence for a nitrogen in the dithiol bridge (2009)
  • Spectroelectrochemical characterization of the active site of the [FeFe] hydrogenase HydA1 from Chlamydomonas reinhardtii (2009)
  • Structure of the oxygen-evolving complex of photosystem II: information on the S 2 state through quantum chemical calculation of its magnetic properties (2009)
  • Solar water-splitting into H 2 and O 2: design principles of photosystem II and hydrogenases (2008)
  • [NiFe] and [FeFe] hydrogenases studied by advanced magnetic resonance techniques (2007)
  • Hydrogen: an overview (2007)
  • Electronic structure of the Mn4O x Ca cluster in the S0 and S2 States of the oxygen-evolving complex of photosystem II based on pulse 55Mn-ENDOR and EPR spectroscopy (2007)
  • A single-crystal ENDOR and density functional theory study of the oxidized states of the [NiFe] hydrogenase from Desulfovibrio vulgaris Miyazaki F (2006)
  • Direct Detection of a Hydrogen Ligand in the [NiFe] Center of the Regulatory H2-Sensing Hydrogenase from Ralstonia e utropha in Its Reduced State by HYSCORE and ENDOR Spectroscopy (2003)
  • Single crystal EPR studies of the reduced active site of [NiFe] hydrogenase from Desulfovibrio vulgaris Miyazaki F (2003)
  • Quantum chemical calculations of [NiFe] hydrogenase (2002)
  • Hydrogen bonding to P700: site-directed mutagenesis of threonine A739 of photosystem I in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii (2002)
  • Pulsed EPR structure analysis of photosystem I single crystals: localization of the phylloquinone acceptor (1997)
  • Electronic structure of neutral tryptophan radicals in ribonucleotide reductase studied by EPR and ENDOR spectroscopy (1996)
  • Site-directed mutations affecting the spectroscopic characteristics and midpoint potential of the primary donor in photosystem I (1996)
  • Electron nuclear double resonance spectroscopy of radicals in solution (1988)
  • Fluid solution and solid-state electron nuclear double resonance studies of flavin model compounds and flavoenzymes (1984)