Effects of electric fields on electron transfer in photosynthetic reaction centers

Long-distance electron transfer in photosynthetic reaction centers has been manipulated using applied electric fields. Information on the nature of excited states and the participation of the intervening medium on the reaction rate has been obtained. Several models have been tested using this method, which selectively perturbs dipolar states. A reasonable model for long distance electron transfer in this system, which may be generally useful as the basis for designing molecular electronic devices, has been proposed