Time-resolved photoisomerization of 1,1′-di-tert-butylstilbene and 1,1′-dicyanostilbene

Abstract Photoisomerization of 1,1′-di-tert-butylstilbene ( 3 ) and 1,1′-dicyanostilbene ( 4 ) is monitored with stationary and broadband transient absorption spectroscopy. The electron affinity of the substituents correlates with the shift of the absorption band. The weak extinction of 3 complicates data interpretation, but comparison with earlier measured 1,1′-dimethylstilbene ( 1 ) and 1,1′-diethylstilbene ( 2 ) helps to assign transient spectra and relaxation paths. For 3 a long-lived perpendicular state P is observed with lifetime τ P  = 134 ps in acetonitrile. For 4 τ P  = 2.1 ps in acetonitrile and 27 ps in n-hexane, the difference indicating a substantial dipole moment (∼3D) of the …

Mechanism‐Dependent Modulation of Ultrafast Interfacial Water Dynamics in Intrinsically Disordered Protein Complexes

Abstract The recognition of intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) is highly dependent on dynamics owing to the lack of structure. Here we studied the interplay between dynamics and molecular recognition in IDPs with a combination of time‐resolving tools on timescales ranging from femtoseconds to nanoseconds. We interrogated conformational dynamics and surface water dynamics and its attenuation upon partner binding using two IDPs, IBB and Nup153FG, both of central relevance to the nucleocytoplasmic transport machinery. These proteins bind the same nuclear transport receptor (Importinβ) with drastically different binding mechanisms, coupled folding–binding and fuzzy complex formation, resp…

Mechanismusabhängige Regulation der ultraschnellen Dynamik von Wasser an Grenzflächen in Komplexen mit intrinsisch ungeordneten Proteinen