Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 26, 2026

Proton Transfer and Protein Conformation Dynamics in Photosensitive Proteins by Time-resolved Step-scan Fourier-transform Infrared Spectroscopy
Published on: June 27, 2014
Mechanism of the S1 excited state internal conversion in vitamin B12
Piotr Lodowski1, Maria Jaworska, Tadeusz Andruniów
1Department of Theoretical Chemistry, Institute of Chemistry, University of Silesia, Szkolna 9, PL-40 006 Katowice, Poland.
Abstract:
To explain the photostability of vitamin B12, internal conversion of the S1 state was investigated using TD-DFT. The active coordinates for radiationless deactivation were determined to be elongated axial bonds, overcoming a 5.0 kcal mol(-1) energy barrier between the relaxed ligand-to-metal charge transfer (S1), and the ground (S0) states.
Related Concept Videos
Deactivation Processes: Jablonski Diagram
ATP Synthase: Mechanism
Rate-Determining Steps
In a multistep reaction mechanism, one of the elementary steps progresses significantly slower than the others. This slowest step is called the rate-limiting step (or rate-determining step). A reaction cannot proceed faster than its slowest step, and hence, the rate-determining step limits the overall reaction rate.
The concept of rate-determining step can be understood from the analogy of a 4-lane freeway with a short-stretch of traffic-bottleneck caused due to...
Electron Transport Chains
The ETC is comprised of...
Photochemical Electrocyclic Reactions: Stereochemistry
Selection Rules: Photochemical Activation
SN1 Reaction: Mechanism
Firstly, the haloalkane ionizes to generate a carbocation intermediate and a halide ion. This heterolytic cleavage is highly endothermic with large activation energy. The ionization of the substrate, facilitated by a...

