Shedding light on primary donors in photosynthetic reaction centers

Abstract

The light-induced transition from one or more neutral molecules into a tandem of charged species undergirds the photosynthetic process and thus the entirety of life as we know it. The charge separation reaction and subsequent transfer of electrons generates a series of transient charged species in the core of the photosynthetic reaction centers (RCs). While the mechanism of charge separation remains under investigation, it is known that the primary donor is key to the process. The primary donor is an excitonically coupled dimer of (bacterio)chlorophyll ((B)Chl) molecules located on the luminal side of RCs.