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What is light?

Light emission

An electronically excited molecule can emit light while returning to the ground state (the excited molecule can undergo many processes). Most organic compounds are electronically ground state. Once a molecule is converted to the excited state by chemical or enzymatic reaction, the exited molecule has higher energy than the ground state. The energy of the excited state is released as light emission to return to the ground state.

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The following scheme shows a typical organic compound of marine bioluminescent lives and how excited molecule is produced by a reaction with oxygen.

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An imidazopyrazinone compound in the ground state reacts with oxygen to afford a peroxide intermediate. The peroxide then decomposes to an amide compound in the excited state while releasing carbon dioxide. The amide in the excited state emits light when it returns to the ground state. We can see the light emission as bioluminescence.