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Updated: Feb 12, 2026

Isotopic Effect in Double Proton Transfer Process of Porphycene Investigated by Enhanced QM/MM Method
Published on: July 19, 2019
Long-range proton-coupled electron transfer in biological energy conversion: towards mechanistic understanding of
1Department of Chemistry, Technische Universität München, Lichtenbergstr. 4, Garching, Germany ville.kaila@ch.tum.de.
Abstract:
Biological energy conversion is driven by efficient enzymes that capture, store and transfer protons and electrons across large distances. Recent advances in structural biology have provided atomic-scale blueprints of these types of remarkable molecular machinery, which together with biochemical, biophysical and computational experiments allow us to derive detailed energy transduction mechanisms for the first time. Here, I present one of the most intricate and least understood types of biological energy conversion machinery, the respiratory complex I, and how its redox-driven proton-pump catalyses charge transfer across approximately 300 Å distances. After discussing the functional elements of complex I, a putative mechanistic model for its action-at-a-distance effect is presented, and functional parallels are drawn to other redox- and light-driven ion pumps.
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