Photoswitchable Antimicrobial Metallohelices
Chiral subcomponent self-assembly is used to access optically pure, metallo-helical species based on Zn and Fe(II) and incorporating three transazobenzene units. UV-vis, circular dichroism, and NMR spectroscopies, alongside X-ray crystallographic and DFT computational studies are used to unambiguously characterize a highly reversible stepwise photochemical transformation to an all-cis state in which structural integrity and optical purity have been retained. Although the all-trans state of the water-soluble enantiomers exhibited low or moderate activity against Gram-positive strains, irradiation at 365 nm led to up to eight-fold reduction in MIC. Electron microscopy and a cell permeability assay indicate a membrane disruption mechanism; the higher activity of the photochemically-generated all-cis state is consistent with its more compact supramolecular fold.
Authors
- Rubing Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2507-6389)
- Xuebin Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2454-6492)
- Yuji Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3842-7627)
- Siying Qin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0001-5343-4289)
- H. L. Song (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8980-662X)
- Guy J. Clarkson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3076-3191)
- Qianshuo Dong
- Xinyi Yang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1052-7821)
- Peter Scott (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5656-7060)
- Xue Zhao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9281-7680)
- Xin Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6366-9890)
- Xinyu Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0418-6503)
- Guoqing Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2843-6039)
- Changhao Liu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0005-8149-1351)
- Nicola J. Rogers
- Mi Li
- Xuejian Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0006-8600-6244)
Institutions
- Hong Kong Baptist University (HK)
- Capital Medical University (CN)
- Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College (CN)
- Nankai University (CN)
- University of Warwick (GB)
- Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Angewandte Chemie International Edition
- Published
- 2025-05-26
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.202508959
- Citations
- 2
- Primary Topic
- Photochromic and Fluorescence Chemistry
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 1.04