Deuterium substitution effect on the excited-state dynamics of rhodopsin

Research was conducted to examine the excited-state dynamics of the cis-trans photoisomerization of rhodopsin by investigating the deuterium substitution effects for hydrogen atoms bonded to C11 and C12 of the retinal chromophore by the method of Fourier transform of optical absorption spectra. Results indicate that the concerted motions of hydrogen out-of-plane waggings at C11 and C12, which are found to exist in native rhodopsin in the time range 20-60- fs, have no effect on the excited dynamics in its time range.