Monitoring dynamic phenomena and reactions

Solid-state NMR spectroscopy is a very dynamically expanding field. Two-dimensional methods are being applied to more and more interesting areas of chemistry, for instance to study the chemistry of organometallic catalysts immobihzed on surfaces, but aU this is beyond the scope of this book. 

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Monitoring dynamic phenomena and reactions 4.17.1 Intramolecular dynamic phenomena... 

It is particularly important to study process phenomena under dynamic (rather than static) conditions. Most current analytical techniques are designed to determine the initial and final states of a material or process. Instmments must be designed for the analysis of materials processing in real time, so that the cmcial chemical reactions in materials synthesis and processing can be monitored as they occur. Recent advances in nuclear magnetic resonance and laser probes indicate valuable lines of development for new techniques and comparable instmmentation for the study of interfaces, complex hquids, microstmctures, and hierarchical assemblies of materials. Instmmentation needs for the study of microstmctured materials are discussed in Chapter 9. 

The next two chapters are devoted to ultrafast radiationless transitions. In Chapter 5, the generalized linear response theory is used to treat the non-equilibrium dynamics of molecular systems. This method, based on the density matrix method, can also be used to calculate the transient spectroscopic signals that are often monitored experimentally. As an application of the method, the authors present the study of the interfadal photo-induced electron transfer in dye-sensitized solar cell as observed by transient absorption spectroscopy. Chapter 6 uses the density matrix method to discuss important processes that occur in the bacterial photosynthetic reaction center, which has congested electronic structure within 200-1500cm 1 and weak interactions between these electronic states. Therefore, this biological system is an ideal system to examine theoretical models (memory effect, coherence effect, vibrational relaxation, etc.) and techniques (generalized linear response theory, Forster-Dexter theory, Marcus theory, internal conversion theory, etc.) for treating ultrafast radiationless transition phenomena. 

The various examples of photoresponsive supramolecular systems that have been described in this chapter illustrate how these systems can be characterized by steady-state and time-resolved spectroscopic techniques based on either absorption or emission of light. Pertinent use of steady-state methods can provide important information in a simple vay stoichiometry and stability constant(s) of host-guest complexes, evidence for the existence of photoinduced processes such as electron transfer, energy transfer, excimer formation, etc. Investigation of the dynamics of these processes and characterization of reaction intermediates requires in most cases time-resolved techniques. Time-resolved fluorometry and transient absorption spectroscopy are frequently complementary, as illustrated by the study of photoinduced electron transfer processes. Time-resolved fluorometry is restricted to phenomena whose duration is of the same order of magnitude as the lifetime of the excited state of the fluorophores, whereas transient absorption spectroscopy allows one to monitor longer processes such as diffusion-controlled binding. 

In the modeling of catalytic reactions at the molecular level, the stochastic approach is also fruitful along with the simulation based on equations (the deterministic approach). Stochastic simulations (the dynamic Monte Carlo method) makes it possible to penetrate into the microlevel and monitor detailed changes in the adsorption layer, and explain the observed phenomena. 

The flash photolysis method was first developed by Norrish and Porter (1) and has made a great contribution to the fields of chemical reaction and relaxation phenomena. Its temporal resolution has been improved from ys to tens of fs by introducing pulsed lasers as excitation and monitoring light sources. The dynamic behavior of unstable radicals and molecular triplet states was the main subject of concern for studies in the ys time range. Ns laser flash photolysis made it possible to observe dynamics of excited singlet S] )... 

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