On the bathochromic shift of the absorption by astaxanthin in crustacyanin: a quantum chemical study

The structural origin of the bathochromic shift assumed by the electronic absorption spectrum of protein-bound astaxanthin, the carotenoid that upon binding to crustacyanin is responsible for the blue colouration of lobster shell, is investigated by means of quantum chemical methods. The calculations suggest that the bathochromic shift is largely due to one of the astaxanthin C4 keto groups being hydrogen-bonded to a histidine residue of the surrounding protein, and that the effect of this histidine is directly dependent on its protonation state. Out of the different methodologies (CIS, TD-DFT, and ZINDO/S) employed to calculate wavelengths of maximum absorption, the best agreement with experimental data is obtained using the semiempirical ZINDO/S method.