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Dihydroazulenes are interesting because of their photoswitching behavior. While the ring-opening to vinylheptafulvalene (VHF) is light induced, the back reaction is known to proceed thermally. In the present paper, we show the first gas phase study of the ring-opening reaction of 2-phenyl-1,8a-dihydroazulene-1,1-dicarbonitrile (Ph-DHA) by means of time-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy which permits us to follow the ring-opening process. Moreover, we investigated s-trans-Ph-VHF in a series of transient absorption experiments, supported by ab initio computations, to understand the origin of the absence of light-induced ring-closure. The transient absorption results show a biexponential decay governed by a hitherto unknown state. This state is accessed within 1-2 ps and return to the ground state is probably driven through a cis-trans isomerization about the exocyclic C1═C2 double bond. The rapid decrease in potential energy disfavors internal rotation to s-cis-Ph-VHF, the structure that would precede the ring-closure reaction.

Excited-state intramolecular proton transfer (ESIPT) in salicylideneaniline (SA) and selected derivatives substituted in the para position of the anilino group have been investigated by femtosecond time-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy (TRPES) and time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT). SA has a twisted structure at the energetic minimum of the ground state, but ESIPT is assumed to take place through a planar structure, although this has not been fully established. The TRPES studies revealed that the excited-state dynamics within the S1 band varied significantly with excitation wavelength. At finite temperatures, the ground state was found to sample a broad range of torsional angles, from planar to twisted. At lower photon energies (370 nm), only the planar ground-state molecules were excited, and the excited-state reaction took place within 50 fs. At higher energies (350 and 330 nm), predominantly twisted ground-state molecules were excited: they had to planarize before ESIPT could occur. This process was found to be slower in methylated SA but did not change significantly in the brominated and nitrated SAs. These substitution effects on the decay dynamics can be explained by modifications of the potential barriers, as predicted by the TDDFT calculations, and support the mechanism of a twisting motion of the anilino ring prior to ESIPT. The contribution of another pathway leading to internal conversion within the enol form was found to be minor at the excitation wavelengths considered here.

The Paternò-Büchi (PB) reaction between an excited carbonyl compound and an alkene has been widely studied, but so far little is known about the excited-state dynamics of the reaction. In this investigation, we used a compound in which a formyl and a vinyl group are attached to a [2.2]paracyclophane in order to obtain a model system in pre-reactive conformation for the PB reaction. We studied the excited-state dynamics of the isolated molecule in a molecular beam using femtosecond time-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy and ab initio calculations. The results show that inter-system crossing within two picoseconds competes efficiently with the reaction in the singlet manifold. Thus, the PB reaction in this model system takes place in the triplet state on a time scale of nanoseconds. This result stresses the importance of triplet states in the excited-state pathway of the PB reaction involving aromatic carbonyl compounds, even in situations in which the reacting moieties are in immediate vicinity.

Time-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy was used to obtain new information about the dynamics of electronic relaxation in gas-phase indole and 5-hydroxyindole following UV excitation with femtosecond laser pulses centred at 249 nm and 273 nm. Our analysis of the data was supported by ab initio calculations at the coupled cluster and complete-active-space self-consistent-field levels. The optically bright (1)L(a) and (1)L(b) electronic states of (1)ππ∗ character and spectroscopically dark and dissociative (1)πσ∗ states were all found to play a role in the overall relaxation process. In both molecules we conclude that the initially excited (1)L(a) state decays non-adiabatically on a sub 100 fs timescale via two competing pathways, populating either the subsequently long-lived (1)L(b) state or the (1)πσ∗ state localised along the N-H coordinate, which exhibits a lifetime on the order of 1 ps. In the case of 5-hydroxyindole, we conclude that the (1)πσ∗ state localised along the O-H coordinate plays little or no role in the relaxation dynamics at the two excitation wavelengths studied.

Excited state unimolecular reactions of some polyenes exhibit localization of their dynamics at a single ethylenic double bond. Here we present studies of the fundamental photophysical processes in the ethylene unit itself. Combined femtosecond time-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy (TRPES) and ab initio quantum chemical calculations was applied to the study of excited state dynamics in cis-butene, trans-butene, trimethylethylene, and tetramethylethylene, following initial excitation to their respective π3s Rydberg states. The wavelength dependence of the π3s Rydberg state dynamics of tetramethylethylene was investigated in more detail. The π3s Rydberg to ππ(∗) valence state decay rate varies greatly with substituent: the 1,2-di- and tri-methyl substituted ethylenes (cis-butene, trans-butene, and trimethylethylene) show an ultrafast decay (∼20 fs), whereas the fully methylated tetramethylethylene shows a decay rate of 2 to 4 orders of magnitude slower. These observations are rationalized in terms of topographical trends in the relevant potential energy surfaces, as found from ab initio calculations: (1) the barrier between the π3s state and the ππ∗ state increases with increasing methylation, and (2) the π3s∕ππ∗ minimum energy conical intersection displaces monotonically away from the π3s Franck-Condon region with increasing methylation. The use of systematic methylation in combination with TRPES and ab initio computation is emerging as an important tool in discerning the excited state dynamics of unsaturated hydrocarbons.

The influence of through-bond interactions on nonadiabatic excited-state dynamics is investigated by time-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy (TRPES) and ab initio computation. We compare the dynamics of cyclohexa-1,4-diene, which exhibits a through-bond interaction known as homoconjugation (the electronic correlation between nonconjugated double bonds), with the nonconjugated cyclohexene. Each molecule was initially excited to a 3s Rydberg state using a 200 nm femtosecond pump pulse. The TRPES spectra of these molecules display similar structure and time constants on a subpicosecond time scale. Our ab initio calculations show that similar sets of conical intersections (a [1,2]- and [1,3]-hydrogen shift, as well as carbon-carbon bond cleavage) are energetically accessible to both molecules and that the geometry and orbital composition at the minimum energy crossing points to the ground state are directly analogous. These experimental and computational results suggest that the excited-state dynamics of cyclohexa-1,4-diene become localized at a single double bond and that the effects of through-bond interaction, dominant in the absorption spectrum, are absent in the excited-state dynamics. The notion of excited-state dynamics being localized at specific sites within the nuclear framework is analogous to the localization of light absorption by a subsystem within the molecule, designated a chromophore. We propose the utility of the analogous concept, denoted here as a dynamophore.

The first study of pseudo-bimolecular cycloaddition reaction dynamics in the gas phase is presented. We used femtosecond time-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy (TRPES) to study the [2+2] photocycloaddition in the model system pseudo-gem-divinyl[2.2]paracyclophane. From X-ray crystal diffraction measurements we found that the ground-state molecule can exist in two conformers; a reactive one in which the vinyl groups are immediately situated for [2+2] cycloaddition and a nonreactive conformer in which they point in opposite directions. From the measured S(1) lifetimes we assigned a clear relation between the conformation and the excited-state reactivity; the reactive conformer has a lifetime of 13 ps, populating the ground state through a conical intersection leading to [2+2] cycloaddition, whereas the nonreactive conformer has a lifetime of 400 ps. Ab initio calculations were performed to locate the relevant conical intersection (CI) and calculate an excited-state [2+2] cycloaddition reaction path. The interpretation of the results is supported by experimental results on the similar but nonreactive pseudo-para-divinyl[2.2]paracyclophane, which has a lifetime of more than 500 ps in the S(1) state., (Copyright © 2011 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

Substituent effects on dynamics at conical intersections are investigated by means of femtosecond time-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy for cyclopentadiene and its substituted analogues 1,2,3,4-tetramethylcyclopentadiene, 1,2,3,4,5-pentamethylcyclopentadiene, and 1,2,3,4-tetramethyl-5-propylcyclopentadiene. By UV excitation to the S(2) (1(1)B(2)) state, the influence of these substitutions on dynamics for the initially excited S(2) (1(1)B(2)) surface and the spectroscopically dark S(1) (2(1)A(1)) surface were investigated. We observed that the dynamics depend only on a small number of specific vibrations. Whereas dynamics at the S(2)/S(1)-conical intersection are independent of substitution at the 5-position, internal conversion dynamics on the S(1) (2(1)A(1)) surface slow down as the inertia of the 5-substituent increases. Contrary to the expectations of simple models of radiationless transitions, an increasing density of states does not lead to faster processes, suggesting that a true dynamical picture of vibrational motions at conical intersections will be required.

An extensive analysis of transient anisotropy is presented including an ansatz to describe the temporal evolution of anisotropy in multiphoton experiments in the limit of Brownian motion. For the general case, this evolution is described by means of a step model interpolating between collision-free reorientation and Brownian diffusion for different geometries. The presented ansatz is able to calculate the time dependence of the anisotropy for symmetric top molecules. This dependence is shown to be in third order with respect to the solvent-solute interaction irrespective of the molecular geometry. Differences to former models are worked out and an extension to rotational coherence effects is given. Finally, the influence of collisions on the anisotropy decay is modeled by Monte-Carlo simulations allowing for a variation of angular correlation and energy transfer.

The photophysics of 5,10,15,20-tetra-p-tolyl-21H,23H-porphyrin (TTP-H2) and 5,10,15,20-tetra-p-tolyl-porphyrinato zinc II (ZnTTP) have been investigated by means of pump-probe and transient anisotropy experiments. After excitation to the Q band, the molecules were probed by NIR pulses in the range between 950 and 1350 nm in order to study states of gerade symmetry in the vicinity of the Soret band. Examination of transient spectra and anisotropy delivered the first direct observation and the excitation energies of the two lowest so-called dark states. The experimental results were compared with predictions from theoretical calculations.