Abstract
The primary photochemical process in algal and green-plant photosynthesis is a one-electron transfer reaction from a chlorophyll donor species to an electron-acceptor molecule, with the electron transfer taking place across the thylakoid membrane probably within a special reaction-centre protein1. A similar process takes place in bacterial photosynthesis. We have mimicked this reaction through the synthesis described here using the method of Kong and Loach2, of a single molecule (P–Q) (I) containing a porphyrin (P) linked to a quinone (Q) by a hydrocarbon chain. When illuminated with visible light an intramolecular electron transfer occurs from the porphyrin to the quinone creating the biradical P∔–Q⨪. which can be detected by electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy. In certain conditions the electron transfer is reversible.
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Ho, TF., McIntosh, A. & Bolton, J. Intramolecular photochemical electron transfer in a linked porphyrin–quinone molecule as a model for the primary step of photosynthesis. Nature 286, 254–256 (1980). https://doi.org/10.1038/286254a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/286254a0
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