High-Resolution Excitation and Absorption Spectroscopy of Gas-Phase p-Coumaric Acid: Unveiling an Elusive Chromophore

摘要

Light drives many important processes of life, ranging from photosynthesis to vision, from phototropism to phototaxis, and from circadian rhythms to other photoperiodicities. Nature utilizes to this purpose small, light absorbing molecules (chromophores) enclosed within a protein that transform light energy into a cellular response. After photon absorption by the chromophore, the protein undergoes a series of reactions via a number of intermediates and ultimately finds itself in its initial state, the whole process thus forming a photocycle.