¹ From the Sir William Ramsay Laboratories of Inorganic and Physical Chemistry, University College, London

1. It is suggested that in the assimilation process of green plants the reduction of the CO₂ takes place with the help of Fe⁺⁺ ions (present in the chloroplast) under the influence of light, which is absorbed by a sensitizing chlorophyll-CO₂-complex.

2. It seems that the chlorophyll has to fulfill two different functions depending on its situation in the chloroplast. The chlorophyll molecules on the surface of the lipoid phase (in contact with an aqueous phase containing Fe⁺⁺) combine with CO₂ to form a light absorbing chlorophyll-CO₂-complex and in this way take part in the reduction of the CO₂.

The light energy is also absorbed by the greater portion of the chlorophyll, which is dissolved in the interior of the lipoid phase, and eventually handed over to the chlorophyll molecules on the surface.

3. The photosynthetic unit of Emerson and Arnold may be determined by the ratio:

See PDF for Equation

so that for every chlorophyll molecule on the surface there are about 500 molecules in the interior, which provide it with the necessary quanta.

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