International Collaboration in Chemistry: Disentangling deactivation pathways in DNA bases & model systems using time-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy & three pulse techniques

University Of Georgia Research Foundation Inc, Athens GA

Investigators

Abstract

In this project funded by the Experimental Physical Chemistry Program and the Office of International Science and Engineering, Professor Susanne Ullrich of the University of Georgia and her research group will employ time-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy (TRPES) to study the relaxation pathways of photoexcited biologically relevant molecules. The Ullrich group will collaborate with Professor Vasilios Stavros of Warwick University in Coventry, UK, who is a specialist in a technique called time-resolved velocity map imaging (TRVMI). The combination of these two ultrafast techniques is expected to reveal the order underlying the many overlapping electronic states typical of polyatomic molecules and how these states interact with one-another. Initial experiments will focus on 1H-Pyrrole, 1H-Pyrazole, and 1H-imidazole species, followed by research on the DNA base species. The results of this research will have broad implications in photochemistry, photobiology, and even nanotechnology. In addition, this US - UK collaborative effort will involve the exchange of professors and students between the two laboratories. Students involved in the research will therefore benefit from a highly interdisciplinary (chemistry, physics, biology) and international experience as well.