Max Planck Institute for Bioinorganic Chemistry

Webpage: http://www.mpibac.mpg.de

Stiftstr. 34 - 36
45470 Mülheim an der Ruhr

Phone: +49 208 306-4
Fax: +49 208 306-3951

A sustainable and storable energy supply on the basis of the conversion of sun light is of utmost importance for the growing world population - for this entirely new basic approaches and insights are necessary. For example, plants reveal how the sun's energy can be used. By means of photosynthesis, plants form sugar from carbon dioxide and water using light energy; many single-celled organisms produce hydrogen in a similar way. Simulating this process is the goal of researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Bioinorganic Chemistry. However, in order to succeed, they must first understand in detail exactly what happens. To this effect they examine the structure and function of those proteins that catalyse e.g. crucial steps in photosynthesis. Particularly they focus on the metallic centres of the enzymes (their inorganic component) where these reactions take place. Assisted by high-performance computers and newly developed quantum chemistry programs (ORCA) they can calculate the reaction center environment and compare their estimates with experimental results.

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