THE PHOTOPHYSICS AND PHOTOCHEMISTRY OF THE NEAR-UV ABSORBING AMINO ACIDS–II. TYROSINE AND ITS SIMPLE DERIVATIVES

Abstract— The photophysics and photochemistry of tyrosine and some of its simple analogues and derivatives are comprehensively reviewed. Topics discussed include emission spectroscopy, formation of photoproducts in direct and sensitized reactions, photooxidations, and mechanistics studies using steady state kinetic methods, flash photolysis, and electron spin resonance. Energy and electron transfer processes involving tyrosine and other molecules of biological interest are briefly summarized.