A theoretical analysis of the intrinsic light-harvesting properties of xanthopterin
Belonging to the family of pterins, which are common chromophores in several bio-organisms, xanthopterin has been shown experimentally (Plotkin et al., 2010) to have the ability of acting as a light-harvesting molecule. In the present study, multiconfigurational second-order perturbation theory is used to determine the stability of distinct amino/imino and lactam/lactim tautomers and the absorption and emission spectroscopic characteristics, electron donor and acceptor properties and the electron and charge transfer efficiencies via π-stacking. The lactam–lactam form 3H5H (and in a lesser extent 1H5H) is predicted to have the most appropriate intrinsic characteristics for the light-harvesti…
Chemi- and Bioluminescence of Cyclic Peroxides
Bioluminescence is a phenomenon that has fascinated mankind for centuries. Today the phenomenon and its sibling, chemiluminescence, have impacted society with a number of useful applications in fields like analytical chemistry and medicine, just to mention two. In this review, a molecular-orbital perspective is adopted to explain the chemistry behind chemiexcitation in both chemi- and bioluminescence. First, the uncatalyzed thermal dissociation of 1,2-dioxetane is presented and analyzed to explain, for example, the preference for triplet excited product states and increased yield with larger nonreactive substituents. The catalyzed fragmentation reaction and related details are then exemplif…