Ultrafast electron transfer in photosynthesis:: Reduced pheophytin and quinone interaction mediated by conical intersections

The mechanism of electron transfer (ET) from reduced pheophytin (Pheo(-)) to the primary stable photosynthetic acceptor, a quinone (Q) molecule, is addressed by using high-level ab initio computations and realistic molecular models. The results reveal that the ET process involving the (Pheo(-)+Q) and (Pheo+Q(-)) oxidation states can be essentially seen as an ultrafast radiationless transition between the two hypersurfaces taking place via conical intersections (CIs) and it is favoured when the topology of the interacting moieties make possible some overlap between the lowest occupied molecular orbitals (LUMO) of the two systems. Thus, it is anticipated that large scale motions, which are difficult to monitor experimentally, may actually occur in the photosynthetic reaction centers of bacteria, algae, and higher plants, to fulfil the observed ultrafast ET processes.