New findings on energy conversion during photosynthesis
Remarkable and unexpected insights into the workings of the biological system: Quantum chemical calculations illuminate excited states of chlorophyll molecules
Dr. Dimitrios Pantazis, MPI für Kohlenforschung
Using multiscale simulation methods and state of the art quantum chemical calculations, Dr. Dimitrios Pantazis and his group investigated the excited state properties of the chlorophyll molecules contained in the enzyme Photosystem-II. Their study managed to identify for the first time the specific pair of redox-active cofactors, a chlorophyll and a pheophytin molecule, responsible for converting the excitation energy of sunlight into a charge-transfer excited state, the precursor of all subsequent chemical transformations. Moreover, the study showed that the special behavior of specific chlorophylls and the directionality of charge separation are not the result of intrinsic properties or of the spatial arrangement of chromophores, as previously thought, but they arise and are controlled exclusively by the electrostatic field of the surrounding protein.
These discoveries have fundamental implications not only for understanding the biological system but also for designing synthetic mimics. They demonstrate that the matrix in which light-sensitive chromophores are embedded can be functionally more important than the chromophores themselves, causing emergent charge-transfer behavior and directionality within the combined system that is beyond and above the intrinsic properties and capabilities of its individual components.
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