Photobiology quantum chemistry

Gao, R.M., J. Stark, D.W. Bahnemann and J. Rabani (2002). Quantum yields of hydroxyl radicals in illuminated Ti02 nanocrystallite layers. Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology A-Chemistry, 148(1-3), 387-391. 

Quantum chemistry plays vital central roles in clarifying and understanding the mechanisms of these photobiological events. Electronic structures and transitions of active centers in proteins obey the principles of quantum mechanics, and molecular properties dramatically change after the transitions. In addition, photochemical events in excited states are often transient and sometimes difficult to study in experimental approaches. If an accurate and reliable theory exists and can be applied to photobiological subjects, one can obtain not only rational explanations but also predictions on the photo-functions of the active centers and proteins. 

S-H Choi, H. Song, K. Park, J-H Yum, S-S Kim, S. Lee, Y-E Sung, Synthesis of size-controlled CdSe quantum dots and characterization of CdSe-conjugated polymer blends for hybrid solar cells. Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology A Chemistry 179 (2006) 135-141... 

Quantum yield, in photochemical reactions, is the ratio of the number of chemical reactions caused by light to the number of photons absorbed by the chemical species. With the exception of some rare photochemical processes in bio-inorganic chemistry, in which chain reactions initiated by absorption of a single photon result in multiple catalytic events and hence quantum yield greater than unity, in the vast majority of photochemical reactions and in all known photobiological reactions such as photosynthesis, vision, and phototropism the quantum yield is less than 1.0. 

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