ABSTRACT
The aggregated chromophores in the light harvesting complexes absorb light in a different region of the solar spectrum than do the isolated chromophores and extend the action spectrum for photosynthesis to wavelengths that are not utilized by the reaction center protein alone. This chapter describes the use of a different type of polymer as a template for the controlled assembly of chromophore aggregates: DNA. It deals with a description of DNA-based multichromophore “foldamers” and an example of an application that arose from DNA-templated aggregates. In the case of the DNA solutions, neither the temperature nor the dye concentration was changed, indicating that the DNA was promoting aggregation of the dye. The splitting pattern, namely positive at longer wavelength and negative at shorter, is indicative of chromophores that are electronically coupled and have a right-handed helical relationship, as expected based on the right-handed helical morphology of the DNA template.
