Deciphering Excited-State Protonation and Tautomeric States of Oxyluciferin through Calculation of Excited-State Equilibrium Constants

• This study investigates the excited-state equilibria of the chemiexcited oxyluciferin light emitter responsible for the emission of light in firefly bioluminescence. To date, there is no consensus regarding which of the possible chemical forms connected by excited-state keto-enol and acid-base equilibrium reactions that is the main contributor to the light emission. Using a hybrid cluster-continuum approach, we perform quantum chemical calculations to obtain the relevant excited-state pKE and pKa values in aqueous solution. As such, we gain insight into the intrinsic tendency of the chemiexcited oxyluciferin light emitter to prefer a particular form.

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