Quantum Chemical Modeling of the Photoinduced Activityof Multichromophoric Biosystems

摘要

Multichromophoric biosystems represent a broad family with very diverse members, ranging from light-harvesting pigment–protein complexes to nucleic acids. The former are designed to capture, harvest, efficiently transport, and transform energy from sunlight for photosynthesis, while the latter should dissipate the absorbed radiation as quickly as possible to prevent photodamages and corruption of the carried genetic information. Because of the unique electronic and structural characteristics, the modeling of their photoinduced activity is a real challenge. Numerous approaches have been devised building on the theoretical development achieved for single chromophores and on model Hamiltonians that capture the essential features of the system. Still, a question remains: is a general strategy for the accurate modeling of multichromophoric systems possible? By using a quantum chemical point of view, here we review the advancements developed so far highlighting differences and similarities with the single chromophore treatment. Finally, we outline the important limitations and challengesthat still need to be tackled to reach a complete and accurate pictureof their photoinduced properties and dynamics.