Primary processes of photosynthesis and their modeling

Photosynthesis is one of the most fascinating fields of current interdiscip linary research. It seems miraculous that Nature, in the process of evoluti on, has managed to bring about a 100 % quantum yield in charge separation o ccurring in the primary processes within the photosynthetic reaction center s. In fact, wasteful deactivation of the photoexcited electronic states int o the ground state should be favored and thus prevent charge separation. Bi omimetic model compounds have been synthesized, essentially from porphyrins and quinones, resembling the redox-active cofactors, Nature has developed. The underlying philosophy of this approach is to design and prepare suitab le organic molecules allowing the specific properties of the complex electr on transfer reactions to be tuned appropriately. Special emphasis is given the thorough comparison of structures and functions of native and artificia l systems. The prominent electron transfer characteristics are discussed in particular by using time-resolved picosecond fluorescence and time-resolve d EPR techniques.