Conical intersection dynamics of the primary photoisomerization event in vision.

Journal article

Ever since the conversion of the 11-cis retinal chromophore to its all-trans form in rhodopsin was identified as the primary photochemical event in vision, experimentalists and theoreticians have tried to unravel the molecular details of this process. The high quantum yield of 0.65 (ref. 2), the production of the primary ground-state rhodopsin photoproduct within a mere 200 fs (refs 3-7), and the storage of considerable energy in the first stable bathorhodopsin intermediate all suggest an unu...

Expand abstract

Authors: Polli, D; Altoè, P; Weingart, O; Spillane, K; Manzoni, C

• Publication status: Published
• Journal: Nature
• Volume: 467
• Issue: 7314
• Pages: 440-443
• Publication date: 2010-09-01
• DOI: 10.1038/nature09346
• EISSN: 1476-4687
• ISSN: 0028-0836
• Language: English
• Keywords: Vision, Ocular; Cattle; Animals; Kinetics; Isomerism; Quantum Theory; Electrons; Retinaldehyde; Rhodopsin; Vibration; Photochemical Processes