Melanin

Project Graphic Express Summary Melanin is a pigment found in human skin that can both protect against and contribute to photodamage. Although photodegradation of melanin has been linked to photoionization processes, little is known about the oxidation potential of melanin and its monomers. In this project, we calculated the ionization energies of eumelanin monomers, dimers, and oligomers to determine the threshold energy for ionization, which we found to be within the UV-B range.