The sun light is the main source of energy for most of the living organisms on earth, and the capability of converting its energy in a useful chemical form has allowed the first photosynthetic bacteria to survive in the initially anaerobic atmosphere of earth, and in the next billion years to evolve into more complex organisms such as algae and plants. In the course of this long evolutionary development, different apparatus for photosynthesis have been adopted by nature. In all of them the main reaction centres, where the energy is used to initiate the reactive processes of photosynthesis, are assisted by secondary light-harvesting (LH) centres. These LH antennae are special proteins carrying a large number of light-absorbing pigments aimed at capturing sunlight and transferring the energy toward the reaction centers in the most efficient way as possible according to the environmental conditions. A key role in the fulfilment of this function is played by the formation and evolution of excitonic states resulting from the interactions among the pigments. To investigate such a role, quantum chemical approaches represent a very effective strategy. In this talk examples of application of this strategy to different LH antennae will be presented with the aim of revealing the delicate interplay between structural and environmental effects in determining the LH function.

Excitonic states in natural light-harvesting systems

249th National Meeting (2015)

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