Frontmatter -- Preface -- Contents -- List Of Contributors -- Section I. General -- An Historical Survey of Porphyrins, their Related Spectra, and their Interpretation -- Routes to Functional Porphyrin Assemblies (Molecular Complexes, Covalent Redox Pairs, and Reactive Domains in Vesicles) -- Organism Dependent Pathways of Tetrapyrrole Biosynthesis -- Section II. Porphyrins And Metalloporphyrins -- Transient Absorption Spectra and Excited State Kinetics of Transition Metal Porphyrins -- Metal Complexes of Tetrapyrrole Ligands. XXXVII. Structure and Optical Spectra of Sandwich-Like Lanthanoid Porphyrins -- Excited State Electron Transfer of Carbonyl[mesotetra(p-tolyl) porphyrinato osmium(II)]Complexes. One and Two Electron Photoredox Processes -- Photophysical Properties of Hematoporphyrin and its Derivatives and their Use in Tumor Phototherapy -- Optical Properties of Ferriheme-Quinidine Complexes -- Resonance Raman Studies of Haemoglobin -- Optical Properties of Heme Bound to the Central Exon Fragment of Globins and to Corresponding Fragments in Cytochromes -- Heme Configuration in Cytochrome c -- Correlation between Near-Infrared, ESR Spectra and Oxidation- Reduction Potentials in Low-Spin Heme Proteins -- Circular Dichroism Contributions of Heme-Heme and Chlorophyll- Chlorophyll Interactions -- Optical Properties of Conjugated Proteins which Transport Haem, Porphyrins and Bilirubin -- Section III. Bile Pigments -- Light Absorption of Bilatrienes-abc and 2,3-Dihydrobilatrienes-abc -- Mechanism of Phototherapy of Neonatal Jaundice. Regiospecific Photoisomerization of Bilirubins -- Effects of Environment on Photophysical Processes of Bilirubin -- The Molecular Model of Phytochrome Deduced from Optical Probes -- Phytochrome, the Visual Pigment of Plants: Chromophore Structure and Chemistry of Photoconversion -- Recent Advances in the Photophysics and Photochemistry of Small, Large, and Native Oat Phytochromes -- Contents IX Time-Resolved Fluorescence Depolarisation of Phycocyanins in Different States of Aggregation -- The Influence of an External Electrical Charge on the Circular Dichroism of Chromopeptides from Phycocyanin -- Bilins and Bilin-Protein Linkages in Phycobili proteins: Structural and Spectroscopic Studies -- Structural Organization of Tetrapyrrole Pigments in Light- Harvesting Pigment-Protein Complexes -- The Crystal and Molecular Structure of C-Phycocyanin from Mastigocladus laminosus and its Implications for Function and Evolution -- Section IV. Chlorophylls -- Optical Spectra of Photosynthetic Reaction Centers. Theoretical and Experimental Aspects -- Circular Dichroism of Chlorophylls in Protein Complexes from Chloroplasts of Higher Plants: A Critical Assessment -- Optical Properties and Structure of Chlorophyll RC I -- Long-Wavelength Absorbing Forms of BacteriochlorophylIs. II. Structural Requirements for Formation in Triton X-100 Micelles and in Aqueous Methanol and Acetone -- Concluding Remarks -- Index of Contributors -- Subject Index -- Backmatter