Betalains as chiral mediators in photoinduced transfer

• Grant number: 21/10248-6
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: January 31, 2022
• End date: May 30, 2022
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Chemistry - Organic Chemistry
• Principal Investigator: Erick Leite Bastos
• Grantee: Arthur Alexandre Falkembach Andreis
• Supervisor: Jacinto de Paiva Sá
• Host Institution: Instituto de Química (IQ). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Uppsala University (UU), Sweden
• Associated to the scholarship: 20/05276-8 - Study on the chirality of betalains, BP.IC

Abstract

Betalains are versatile natural pigments that has been used for the synthesis of metallic nanoparticles (NPs). These chiral secondary metabolites have also been found to interact with semiconducting nanoparticles and composites and to delay electron-hole recombination via the proton-coupled electron transfer (PCET) mechanism. In this research placement project, we propose to exploit the potential of betalains to produce efficient plasmonic photocatalysts. These studies will be carried out over a four-months period at the University of Uppsala under the supervision of Prof. Jacinto Sá. The dynamics of electron and energy transfer involving betalamic acid, the biosynthetic precursor of betalains, and four model betalainic compounds will be investigated by ultrafast laser spectroscopy. (AU)