Energy Metabolism

(Photosynthesis)
• PHOTOSYNTHESIS
• CHROMATOGRAPHY
Chromatography—is a separation technique used
to identify various components of mixtures based
on the differences in their structure and/or
composition. It involves a stationary phase (e.g.,
paper or any thin layer of an absorbent surface)
and a mobile phase (i.e., solvent containing the
dissolved substances). The solvent will move up
the paper through capillary action carrying with
it the dissolved substances. These substances
will be carried along at different rates because
they are not equally soluble in the solvent and
they will be attracted in different degrees to the
paper.
•PIGMENTS
•CHLOROPHYLL
Structure of chlorophyll
• Head—a flat hydrophilic
head called porphyrin ring.
It has a magnesium atom at
its center. Different
chlorophylls differ on the
side groups attached to the
porphyrin.
• Tail—a lipid-soluble
hydrocarbon tail.
Chlorophyll is the greenish
pigment found in the thylakoid
membrane inside the
chloroplast of a plant cell.
Chlorophyll absorbs blue and
red light while it transmits and
reflects green light. This is
why leaves appear green.
There are several kinds of chlorophyll.
Among these, chlorophyll A plays the
most important role in photosynthesis.
It directly participates in converting
solar energy to chemical energy.
Other pigments in the chloroplast play
the part of accessory pigments. These
pigments can absorb light and
transfer the energy to chlorophyll A.
One of these accessory pigments
is chlorophyll b. Some carotenoids
also contribute energy to
chlorophyll a. Other carotenoids,
however, serve as protection for
chlorophyll by dissipating
excessive energy that will
otherwise be destructive to
chlorophyll.
• How does photoexcitation
of chlorophyll happen?
1. A chlorophyll molecule absorbs photon or
light energy.
2. An electron of the molecule in its normal
orbital, said to be in its ground state, will
be elevated to an orbital of a higher energy.
The molecule is now in an excited state.
The molecule only absorbs photon that has
the energy that is equal to the energy
needed for it to be able to elevate from the
ground state to the excited state.
3. The excited state is unstable. Hence,
excited electrons drop back down to the
ground state immediately after, releasing
energy in the form of heat and photon. This
happens in isolated chlorophyll molecules.
However, chlorophyll molecule that is
found in its natural environment in the
thylakoid membrane forms a photosystem
together with proteins and other organic
molecules to prevent the loss of energy
from the electrons.
Photoexcitation of Chlorophyll
•PHOTOSYSTEM
A photosystem is an aggregate of pigments and
proteins in the thylakoid membrane responsible
for the absorption of photons and the transfer of
energy and electrons. It is composed of:
• Light-harvesting complex— is also called the

‘antenna’ complex and is consisted of several
different pigments (chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b,
and carotenoids) bounded with proteins. When a
pigment molecule absorbs a photon, energy is
passed on from one pigment molecule to another
pigment molecule until the energy reaches the
reaction center.
• Reaction-center complex—is composed of a
pair of chlorophyll a and a primary
electron acceptor. The primary electron
acceptor is a specialized molecule that is
able to accept electrons from the pair of
chlorophyll a. The pair of chlorophyll a in
the reaction-center is also specialized
because they are capable of transferring
an electron to the primary electron
acceptor and not just boosting the electron
to a higher energy level.
There are two types of photosystem:
• Photosystem II—was discovered later after the
discovery of Photosystem I, but functions
first in the light reaction of photosynthesis.
The chlorophyll a in the reaction-center of
Photosystem II effectively absorbs light with
a wavelength of 680nm and thus called P680.
• Photosystem I—was discovered first. Its
reaction-center has a chlorophyll a called
P700 because it is effective in absorbing
light with a wavelength of 700nm.

Energy Metabolism

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(Photosynthesis)

• Light-harvesting complex— is also called the

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