Peculiarities of Electron Transfer in Chiral Linked Systems

Abstract

Electron transfer (ET) is one of the most universal reactions in chemistry and biology. Recent studies conducted on the examples of photoinduced ET (PET) in chiral linked systems (dyads) have shown several important features indicative for ET in chiral systems. The peculiarity of processes with PET in such systems is primarily the stereoselectivity; there is difference in ET rates and fluorescence quantum yields in dyad diastereomers. The next feature is the spin selectivity of back ET in the biradical-zwitterions (BZs) that are formed under the dyad diastereomer UV irradiation. This is the difference in the enhancement coefficients of chemically induced dynamic nuclear polarization (CIDNP) originated in BZs. The probable cause of this effect is the variation in the spin density values, resulting from difference in the spatial structure of BZ in (R,S)-and (S,S)-configurations. The latter, in turn, is due to the fact that these dyads react in the form of associates-dimers. The impact of dimerization on the effectiveness of ET in chiral systems is an example of the chiral catalysis. The study of ET in chiral linked systems reveals reasons for the various reactivities of chiral molecules, including the difference in therapeutic activity of drug enantiomers.