Niels Damrauer Research Group

Photochemical Control of Electron-Transfer and Multielectron Chemistry using Shaped Light Fields and Molecular Structure

Research in my group involves a multifaceted approach that combines state of the art physical techniques, synthetic methodologies, and theoretical tools. The chemical questions we ask and answer lie primarily under the umbrella of physical inorganic chemistry with an emphasis on electron-transfer control, solar energy conversion, bioenergetic conversion, photocatalysis, and multielectron chemistry.One important physical tool that is used – adaptive femtosecond pulse shaping – is a powerful recent development in laser spectroscopy. Its importance stems from the use of an adaptive learning procedure which permits the control and study of complex systems. The starting point of our adaptive control research addresses whether shaped coherent light fields can change active mechanisms of electron transfer in model and biological systems, thus, controlling electron transfer rates, direction, and multi-electron transformations.The synthetic infrastructure built in our laboratories allows us to ask additional questions of photochemical reaction control that do not rely on the adaptive techniques. One such problem focuses on how excited-state motion in coordination complexes can be utilized to modulate – in a time-dependent fashion – the degree of coupling between an electron donor and an acceptor.

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