Fundamental to many biomolecular reactions, such as photosynthesis, is the transfer of electrons from one part of a large molecule to another. Mimicking those reactions in the lab—for example, to harness the Sun’s energy to create solar fuels—requires researchers to replicate and control those electron-transfer processes in synthetic systems.
That’s easier said than done. Although electron transfer is perhaps the most fundamental of all chemical processes, it’s often frustratingly difficult to understand. Rudolph Marcus’s pioneering theoretical work in the 1950s and 1960s well describes many simple systems and won him the 1992 Nobel Prize in Chemistry (see Physics Today, January 1993, page 20). But a full quantum understanding of all the factors that influence an electron as it navigates the complex energy landscape of a large molecule remains elusive.
Now Julia Weinstein of Sheffield University in the UK, Anthony Parker and Michael Towrie of the Central Laser Facility...
