Dodecins are small flavin binding proteins occurring in archaea and bacteria. They are remarkable for binding dimers of flavins with their functional relevant aromatic isoalloxazine rings deeply covered. Bacterial dodecins are widely spread and found in a large variety of pathogens, among them Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Streptococcus pneumonia, Ralstonia solanacearum, and Mycobacterium tuberculosis ( M. tuberculosis). In this work, we seek to understand the function of dodecins from M. tuberculosis dodecin. We describe flavin binding in thermodynamic and kinetic properties and achieve mechanistic insight in dodecin function by applying spectroscopic and electrochemical methods. Intriguingly, we reveal a significant pH dependence in the affinity and specificity of flavin binding. Our data give insight in M. tuberculosis dodecin function and advance the current understanding of dodecins as flavin storage and sequestering proteins. We suggest that the dodecin in M. tuberculosis may specifically be important for flavin homeostasis during the elaborate lifestyle of this organism, which calls for the evaluation of this protein as drug target.

The photoswitchable boron-dipyrromethene–dithienylethene molecular dyad is introduced as a prototype for the efficient fluorescence intensity modulation on the molecular level. The functionality of the system is based on the photochromism of the dithienylethene, which facilitates an efficient on- and off-switching of a Förster-type intramolecular energy transfer between the photoexcited BODIPY donor and the dithienylethene acceptor moiety. The switching behavior and dynamics of the molecular dyad are monitored by steady state and time-resolved spectroscopic methods. A quenching efficiency of up to 96% in the off-state is observed and explained by a drastically accelerated decay of the boron-dipyrromethene excited state due to the efficient energy transfer despite the orthogonal arrangement of donor and acceptor. An energy transfer time orders of magnitude shorter than the lifetime of the boron-dipyrromethene in the open state is determined.

Solid surfaces decorated with specific saccharide patterns can serve as a model for the chemically and structurally highly complex glycocalyx of eukaryotic cells. Here we present an approach based on self-assembled monolayers on gold, which are built up in a three-step manner to provide a solid basis, a biorepulsive oligoethylene glycol part, and a specific carbohydrate terminus in a modular way. Of the different reaction sequences, the one with two consecutive 'click reactions' (the copper(i)-catalysed 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition of alkynes with azides and the thiourea-bridging of isothiocyanates with amines) directly 'on SAM' results in the densest layers, as demonstrated by infrared absorption reflection spectroscopy and ellipsometry. As a 'real life' test, the surfaces obtained this way were used for bacterial adhesion experiments. Here the biorepulsivity of the middle part of the SAMs as well as specific binding to the carbohydrate termini could be clearly demonstrated.

The extent of electronic coupling between a boron dipyrromethene (BODIPY) fluorophore and a diarylethene (DAE) photoswitch has been modulated in a covalently linked molecular dyad by irradiation with either UV or visible light. In the open isomer, both moieties can be regarded as individual chromophores, while in the closed form the lowest electronic (S0 →S1 ) transition of the dyad is slightly shifted, enabling photomodulation of its fluorescence. Transient spectroscopy confirms that the dyad behaves dramatically different in the two switching states: while in the open isomer it resembles an undisturbed BODIPY fluorophore, in the closed isomer no fluorescence occurs and instead a red-shifted DAE behavior prevails.

The ring opening of a dithienylethene photoswitch incorporated in a bridged boron-dipyrromethene - dithienylethene molecular dyad was investigated with ultrafast spectroscopy. Coherent vibrations in the electronic ground state of the boron-dipyrromethene are triggered after selective photoexcitation of the closed dithienylethene indicating vibrational coupling although the two moieties are electronically isolated. A distribution of short-lived modes and a long-lived mode at 143 cm−1 are observed. Analysis of the theoretical frequency spectrum indicates two modes at 97 cm−1 and 147 cm−1 which strongly modulate the electronic transition energy. Both modes exhibit a characteristic displacement of the bridge suggesting that the mechanical momentum of the initial geometry change after photoexcitation of the dithienylethene is transduced to the boron-dipyrromethene. The relaxation to the dithienylethene electronic ground state is accompanied by significant heat dissipation into the surrounding medium. In the investigated dyad, the boron-dipyrromethene acts as probe for the ultrafast photophysical processes in the dithienylethene.