Time-resolved spectroscopy, study

P. Tauc, C.R. Mateo, J-C. Brochon, Pressure effects on the lateral distribution of cholesterol in lipid bilayers A time-resolved spectroscopy study, Biophys. J. 74, 1864-1870 (1998)... 

Time-resolved spectroscopy has become an important field from x-rays to the far-IR. Both IR and Raman spectroscopies have been adapted to time-resolved studies. There have been a large number of studies using time-resolved Raman [39], time-resolved resonance Raman [7] and higher order two-dimensional Raman spectroscopy (which can provide coupling infonuation analogous to two-dimensional NMR studies) [40]. Time-resolved IR has probed neutrals and ions in solution [41, 42], gas phase kmetics [42] and vibrational dynamics of molecules chemisorbed and physisorbed to surfaces [44]- Since vibrational frequencies are very sensitive to the chemical enviromnent, pump-probe studies with IR probe pulses allow stmctiiral changes to... 

So far we have exclusively discussed time-resolved absorption spectroscopy with visible femtosecond pulses. It has become recently feasible to perfomi time-resolved spectroscopy with femtosecond IR pulses. Flochstrasser and co-workers [M, 150. 151. 152. 153. 154. 155. 156 and 157] have worked out methods to employ IR pulses to monitor chemical reactions following electronic excitation by visible pump pulses these methods were applied in work on the light-initiated charge-transfer reactions that occur in the photosynthetic reaction centre [156. 157] and on the excited-state isomerization of tlie retinal pigment in bacteriorhodopsin [155]. Walker and co-workers [158] have recently used femtosecond IR spectroscopy to study vibrational dynamics associated with intramolecular charge transfer these studies are complementary to those perfomied by Barbara and co-workers [159. 160], in which ground-state RISRS wavepackets were monitored using a dynamic-absorption technique with visible pulses. 

Relaxation kinetics may be monitored in transient studies tlirough a variety of metliods, usually involving some fonn of spectroscopy. Transient teclmiques and spectrophotometry are combined in time resolved spectroscopy to provide botli tire stmctural infonnation from spectral measurements and tire dynamical infonnation from kinetic measurements that are generally needed to characterize tire mechanisms of relaxation processes. The presence and nature of kinetic intennediates, metastable chemical or physical states not present at equilibrium, may be directly examined in tliis way. 

Hydrogen transfer in excited electronic states is being intensively studied with time-resolved spectroscopy. A typical scheme of electronic terms is shown in fig. 46. A vertical optical transition, induced by a picosecond laser pulse, populates the initial well of the excited Si state. The reverse optical transition, observed as the fluorescence band Fj, is accompanied by proton transfer to the second well with lower energy. This transfer is registered as the appearance of another fluorescence band, F2, with a large anti-Stokes shift. The rate constant is inferred from the time dependence of the relative intensities of these bands in dual fluorescence. The experimental data obtained by this method have been reviewed by Barbara et al. [1989]. We only quote the example of hydrogen transfer in the excited state of... 

In (8), the solvent-independent constants kr, kQnr, and Ax can be combined into a common dye-dependent constant C, which leads directly to (5). The radiative decay rate xr can be determined when rotational reorientation is almost completely inhibited, that is, by embedding the molecular rotor molecules in a glass-like polymer and performing time-resolved spectroscopy measurements at 77 K. In one study [33], the radiative decay rate was found to be kr = 2.78 x 108 s-1, which leads to the natural lifetime t0 = 3.6 ns. Two related studies where similar fluorophores were examined yielded values of t0 = 3.3 ns [25] and t0 = 3.6 ns [29]. It is likely that values between 3 and 4 ns for t0 are typical for molecular rotors. 

An interesting feature of polarized IR spectroscopy is that rapid measurements can be performed while preserving molecular information (in contrast with birefringence) and without the need for a synchrotron source (X-ray diffraction). Time-resolved IRLD studies are almost exclusively realized in transmission because of its compatibility with various types of tensile testing devices. In the simplest implementation, p- and s-polarized spectra are sequentially acquired while the sample is deformed and/or relaxing. The time resolution is generally limited to several seconds per spectrum by the acquisition time of two spectra and by the speed at which the polarizer can be rotated. Siesler et al. have used such a rheo-optical technique to study the dynamics of multiple polymers and copolymers [40]. 

Carbene protonation has been amply demonstrated by product studies, time-resolved spectroscopy, and kinetic measurements. The ability of singlet carbenes to accept a proton is not adequately described by the traditional scale of carbene philicities, which is based on addition reactions with alkenes. In particular, aryl- and diarylcarbenes excel as proton acceptors but would traditionally be classified as electrophiles. 

Flash Photolysis. Time-resolved spectroscopy techniques are a powerful means of studying materials, giving information about the nature of the excitations, energy transfer, molecular motion, and molecular environment, information that is not available from steady-state measurements. It is... 

The fluorite in our study consisted of 40 samples from different environments. Concentrations of luminescence impurities in several samples are given in Table 4.6. By using laser-induced time-resolved spectroscopy we were able to detect and ascribe the following emission centers Eu +, Ce ", Gd +, Sm +, Dy3+, Eu +, Pr +, Er +, Tm +, Ho +, Nd +, Mn + and the M-center (Figs. 4.10-4.12). 

The natural aragonite in our study consisted of 12 samples from a variety of geologic environments. By using laser-induced time-resolved spectroscopy we were able to detect the following emission centers Mn, Sm and Dy. ... 

Unusual behavior of the luminescence line at 417 nm has been detected by time-resolved spectroscopy. It is usually ascribed to Tb ", but sometimes in spectra with a narrow gate this line remains strong, while other lines of Tb disappear (Fig. 4.8b,c). The supposition that those lines are connected with Nd " " was confirmed by our study of CaW04 Nd, where, besides the known IR, the group of UV and violet lines with short decay times are detected, while in CaW04 Tb such lines are absent (Fig. 5.7). 

The time-resolved spectroscopy is a sensitive tool to study the solute-solvent interactions. The technique has been used to characterize the solvating environment in the solvent. By measuring the time-dependent changes of the fluorescence signals in solvents, the solvation, rotation, photoisomerization, or excimer formation processes of a probe molecule can be examined. In conventional molecular solutions, many solute-solvent complexes. 

The Photoactive Yellow Protein (PYP) is the blue-light photoreceptor that presumably mediates negative phototaxis of the purple bacterium Halorhodospira halophila [1]. Its chromophore is the deprotonated trans-p-coumaric acid covalently linked, via a thioester bond, to the unique cystein residue of the protein. Like for rhodopsins, the trans to cis isomerization of the chromophore was shown to be the first overall step of the PYP photocycle, but the reaction path that leads to the formation of the cis isomer is not clear yet (for review see [2]). From time-resolved spectroscopy measurements on native PYP in solution, it came out that the excited-state deactivation involves a series of fast events on the subpicosecond and picosecond timescales correlated to the chromophore reconfiguration [3-7]. On the other hand, chromophore H-bonding to the nearest amino acids was shown to play a key role in the trans excited state decay kinetics [3,8]. In an attempt to evaluate further the role of the mesoscopic environment in the photophysics of PYP, we made a comparative study of the native and denatured PYP. The excited-state relaxation path and kinetics were monitored by subpicosecond time-resolved absorption and gain spectroscopy. 

Based on steady-state and time-resolved emission studies, Scaiano and coworkers have concluded that silicalite (a pentasil zeolite) provides at least two types of sites for guest molecules [234-236], The triplet states of several arylalkyl ketones and diaryl ketones (benzophenone, xanthone, and benzil) have been used as probes. Phosphorescence from each molecule included in silicalite was observed. With the help of time-resolved diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, it has been possible to show that these triplet decays follow complex kinetics and extend over long periods of time. Experiments with benzophenone and arylalkyl ketones demonstrate that some sites are more easily accessed by the small quencher molecule oxygen. Also, diffuse reflectance studies in Na + -X showed that diphenylmethyl radicals in various sites decay over time periods differing by seven orders of magnitude (t varies between 20/is and 30 min) [237]. 

Time-Resolved Spectroscopy. Steady-state solvatochromic techniques provide a reasonable means to study solvation processes in supercritical media (5,17-32,43-45,59-68). But, unless the interaction rates between the solute species and the supercritical fluid are slow, these "static" methods cannot be used to study solvation kinetics. Investigation of the kinetics requires an approach that offers inherent temporal resolution. Fortunately, time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy is ideally suited for this task. 

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