The first step in photosynthesis is the harvesting of solar energy, which is accomplished via pigment�protein complexes. These light harvesting complexes absorb solar energy and funnel the energy to reaction centers, where subsequent charge separation takes place. Understanding how the energy of an absorbed photon is funneled to the reaction center may provide insight into biotechnology and bioengineering, and may also inspire the design and construction of more efficient solar cells and new technologies to generate solar fuels. In this talk, I will discuss how two-dimensional electronic spectroscopy can be used to gain insight into these initial photophysical events and present some of our recent results on both naturally occurring light harvesting complexes and chemically synthesized model systems.

Light harvesting in photosynthesis: Insights gained from 2D electronic spectroscopy

246th National Meeting (2013)

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