CAREER: Charge-Transfer-to-Solvent Transitions: Experimentaland Theoretical Studies of the Simplest Charge Transfer Reaction

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The Experimental Physical Chemistry Program supports Benjamin J. Schwartz of the University of California in Los Angeles in his transient absorption studies of solvent effects on chemical reaction dynamics. Prof. Schwartz will carry out femtosecond experiments in order to examine the dynamics following excitation of the charge-transfer-to-solvent states (CTTS) of solvated halide anions. These experiments will test the predictions of quantum non-adiabatic molecular dynamics simulations, thus providing detailed information about the role of the solvent in this simplest of charge transfer reactions. Parallel experiments and simulations studying the CTTS transitions of novel solvated alkali metal anions will provide further insight into the role of the solute electronic structure in controlling charge transfer reactions. The goal of these studies is to identify the solvent motions responsible for both the solvation and non-radiative relaxation of solute electronic excited states in solution. The results will help to provide a complete molecular picture of how the interplay between solvation dynamics and non-adiabatic relaxation controls chemical reactivity in solution. The education plan of this CAREER award emphasizes the strengthening of critical thinking skills in students. In addition, a new curriculum focusing on condensed-phase physical chemistry will be introduced. The science targeted in these studies, electron transfer and solvent reactions, is fundamental in the area of chemical dynamics, and the novel combined theoretical and experimental tools that will be brought to bear will provide unprecedented detail and scrutiny. Given the ubiquity of these processes in nature and in all condensed phase processes, these studies will have far reaching implications.