Excited states, relaxation processes, and coordination reactions in the active centers of heme proteins

Based on the results of studying hemoglobin and myoglobin molecules using the methods of laser absorption spectroscopy of superhigh time resolution, we described photophysical and spectral properties of excited states, and intramolecular electronic and thermal relaxation processes. A mechanisms of the photodissociation reaction of oxy forms of these proteins is proposed and substantiated. Reported at the VIIIth International Conference on Spectroscopy of Porphyrins and Their Analogs, Minsk, September 22–26, 1998. Institute of Molecular and Atomic Physics, National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, 70, F. Skorina Ave., Minsk, 220072, Belarus. Translated from Zhurnal Prikladnoi Spektroskopii, Vol. 66, No. 4, pp. 479–482, July–August, 1999.