Is Deprotonation of the Oxygen-Evolving Complex of Photosystem II during the S1 → S2 Transition Suppressed by Proton Quantum Delocalization?
Ca-oxo) cluster, from the "open" to "closed" conformation, a step suggested to be necessary for oxygen evolution from previous studies. Our findings suggest that quantum-delocalized protons, stabilized by low-barrier hydrogen bonds in model catalytic systems, can facilitate the accumulation of multiple oxidizing equivalents at low overpotentials.