Femtosecond Dynamics of the Excited Primary Electron Donor in Reaction Centers of the Purple Bacterium Rhodobacter sphaeroides

Abstract

Femtosecond transient absorption spectroscopy was used to study the dynamics of the excited primary electron donor in the reaction centers of the purple bacterium Rhodobacter sphaeroides. Using global analysis and the interval method, we found a correlation between the vibrational coherence damping of the excited primary electron donor and the lifetime of the charge-separated state P⁺B_A^-, indicating the reversibility of electron transfer to the primary electron acceptor, the B_A molecule. In the reaction centers, the signs of superposition of two electronic states of P were found for a delay time of less than 200 fs. It is suggested that the admixture value of the charge transfer state P_A⁺P_B^- with the excited primary electron donor P* is about 24%. The results obtained are discussed in terms of the two-step electron transfer mechanism.

Keywords: bacterial reaction centers; charge transfer state; femtosecond spectroscopy; photochemical charge separation.