The photochemical breaking of the peptide (amide) bond is investigated by x-ray absorption spectroscopy at the C 1s, N 1s, and O 1s edges. Interestingly, the product of the photochemical reaction leaves a clear and universal signature, i.e. two well-defined * peaks at the N 1s edge which grow while the * peak of the peptide bond shrinks. This signature is found for a wide variety of amides, r...

The change in absorbance (hole spectrum) of the primary electron donor (P870) in bacterial photosynthetic reaction centers has been studied at 1.5-2.1 K following narrow-band excitation at several wavelengths within the P870 absorption band. The hole width is very large, suggesting a homogeneous linewidth on the order of 200-300 cm-‘. Possible interpretations of this highly unusual result, incl...

A series of photochemical reactions are assessed under the environmental aspect by using Eissen and Metzger’s EATOS (environmental assessment tool for organic syntheses) method and are compared with strictly analogous thermal processes. These include C–C bond-forming reactions (arylation and alkylation) and selective oxidation and reduction reactions. In most cases, the photochemical method is ...