Dexter electron transfer

[1][2] This process requires a wavefunction overlap between the donor and acceptor,[3] which means it can only occur at short distances; typically within 10 Å (1 nm).

This short range energy transfer process was first theoretically proposed by D. L. Dexter in 1953.

, because it is normalized, does not depend on the actual magnitude of extinction coefficient nor on the donor fluorescence quantum yield.

This difference is an important distinction from the situation for dipole-dipole energy transfer.

simply derives from the density of degenerate states that couple donor and acceptor (from Fermi's golden rule), i.e. is a measure of the number of states that are capable of satisfying the resonance condition.

is a constant that is not related to any spectroscopic data, it is difficult to characterize the exchange mechanism experimentally.