Electron-Coupled Transport in a Redox Gradient

Substances undergoing redox reactions (such as quinone-hydroquinone, sulphide-disulphide, metal complexes, redox couples) may serve as electron carriers and allow the coupling of oxidation-reduction processes across membranes (see, for instance, [6.44-6.46]) to cation or anion transport. 

Electron-cation symport has been realized in a double carrier process where the coupled, parallel transport of electrons and metal cations was mediated simultaneously by an electron carrier and by a selective cation carrier [6.47]. The transport of electrons by a nickel complex in a redox gradient was the electron pump for driving the selective transport of K+ ions by a macrocyclic polyether (Fig. 12). The pro- 

Quinone type carriers perform the cotransport of two protons and two electrons (2e, 2H+ symport) [6.48, 6.49] and take part in mitochondrial and photosynthetic electron transport. Cation receptor sites such as crown ethers or cryptands bearing a quinone [6.50a] or a ferrocene [6.50b] group (see also Section 8.3.1), bind and carry cations with redox coupling through switching between a low affinity state (quinone, ferricinium) and a high affinity state (reduced quinone, ferrocene). 

Electron-anion antiport has been realized, for instance with redox active carriers such as ferrocene derivatives [6.51a] or alkylviologens [6.44-6.46,6.51b] via ferricinium or reduced viologen species, respectively. The latter have been used extensively in light-driven systems and in studies on solar energy conversion [6.44-6.46], 

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