Multidimensional Femtosecond Spectroscopic Studies of Chemical Reaction Dynamics in Condensed Phases

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Professor David Jonas of the University of Colorado is funded by the Experimental Physical Chemistry program to develop femtosecond multidimensional spectroscopic methods. 2D electronic spectra developed already by the PI allows the examination of solvation dynamics as a function of solvent coordination in liquid methanol. This proposal seeks to further develop the method and use it to study the doubly excited states of the photosynthetic reaction center and vibrationally excited molecules. These excited state absorptions usually remain obscure in standard pump-probe methods. The PI then proposes to examine the apparently long-lived heterogeneity reported in photosynthetic energy and electron transfer. A successful outcome of this proposal would be new methods adaptable to many problems in condensed phase dynamics. Most practical and industrially important chemical reactions occur in condensed phases such as liquids, yet little is known how the solvent affects the course of the reactions. Ultrafast dynamics experiments reveal some of the step by step details of reactions in solution. These fundamental studies underlie many of the advances in synthetic chemistry and materials science. Applications of the new multidimensional spectroscopic methods will shed light on fast biological processes involved in energy conversion.