@article{VermaSteinbacherSchmiedeletal.2016,
  author    = {Verma, Pramod Kumar and Steinbacher, Andreas and Schmiedel, Alexander and Nuernberger, Patrick and Brixner, Tobias},
  title     = {Excited-state intramolecular proton transfer of 2-acetylindan-1,3-dione studied by ultrafast absorption and fluorescence spectroscopy},
  series = {Structural Dynamics},
  volume    = {3},
  journal   = {Structural Dynamics},
  doi       = {10.1063/1.4937363},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-181301},
  year      = {2016},
  abstract  = {We employ transient absorption from the deep-UV to the visible region and fluorescence upconversion to investigate the photoinduced excited-state intramolecular proton-transfer dynamics in a biologically relevant drug molecule, 2-acetylindan-1,3-dione. The molecule is a ß-diketone which in the electronic ground state exists as exocyclic enol with an intramolecular H-bond. Upon electronic excitation at 300 nm, the first excited state of the exocyclic enol is initially populated, followed by ultrafast proton transfer (≈160 fs) to form the vibrationally hot endocyclic enol. Subsequently, solvent-induced vibrational relaxation takes place (≈10 ps) followed by decay (≈390 ps) to the corresponding ground state.},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Steinbacher2015,
  author    = {Steinbacher, Andreas Edgar},
  title     = {Circular dichroism and accumulative polarimetry of chiral femtochemistry},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-116500},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {This work brings forward successful implementations of ultrafast chirality-sensitive spectroscopic techniques by probing circular dichroism (CD) or optical rotation dispersion (ORD). Furthermore, also first steps towards chiral quantum control, i.e., the selective variation of the chiral properties of molecules with the help of coherent light, are presented. In the case of CD probing, a setup capable of mirroring an arbitrary polarization state of an ultrashort laser pulse was developed. Hence, by passing a left-circularly polarized laser pulse through this setup a right-circularly polarized laser pulse is generated. These two pulse enantiomers can be utilized as probe pulses in a pump--probe CD experiment. Besides CD spectroscopy, it can be utilized for anisotropy or ellipsometry spectroscopy also. Within this thesis, the approach is used to elucidate the photochemistry of hemoglobin, the oxygen transporting protein in mammalian blood. The oxygen loss can be triggered with laser pulses as well, and the results of the time-resolved CD experiment suggest a cascade-like relaxation, probably through different spin states, of the metallo-porphyrins in hemoglobin. The ORD probing was realized via the combination of common-path optical heterodyne interferometric polarimetry and accumulative femtosecond spectroscopy. Within this setup, on the one hand the applicability of this approach for ultrafast studies was demonstrated explicitly. On the other hand, the discrimination between an achiral and a racemic solution without prior spatial separation was realized. This was achieved by inducing an enantiomeric excess via polarized femtosecond laser pulses and following its evolution with the developed polarimeter. Hence, chiral selectivity was already achieved with this method which can be turned into chiral control if the polarized laser pulses are optimized to steer an enhancement of the enantiomeric excess. Furthermore, within this thesis, theoretical prerequisites for anisotropy-free pump--probe experiments with arbitrary polarized laser pulses were derived. Due to the small magnitude of optical chirality-sensitve signals, these results are important for any pump--probe chiral spectroscopy, like the CD probing presented in this thesis. Moreover, since for chiral quantum control the variation of the molecular structure is necessary, the knowledge about rearrangement reactions triggered by photons is necessary. Hence, within this thesis the ultrafast Wolff rearrangement of an α-diazocarbonyl was investigated via ultrafast photofragment ion spectroscopy in the gas phase. Though the compound is not chiral, the knowledge about the exact reaction mechanism is beneficial for future studies of chiral compounds.},
  subject      = {Ultrakurzzeitspektroskopie},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{SteinbacherBubackNuernbergeretal.2012,
  author    = {Steinbacher, Andreas and Buback, Johannes and N{\"u}rnberger, Patrick and Brixner, Tobias},
  title     = {Precise and rapid detection of optical activity for accumulative femtosecond spectroscopy},
  series = {Optics Express},
  journal   = {Optics Express},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-85913},
  year      = {2012},
  abstract  = {We present polarimetry, i.e. the detection of optical rotation of light polarization, in a configuration suitable for femtosecond spectroscopy. The polarimeter is based on common-path optical heterodyne interferometry and provides fast and highly sensitive detection of rotatory power. Femtosecond pump and polarimeter probe beams are integrated into a recently developed accumulative technique that further enhances sensitivity with respect to single-pulse methods. The high speed of the polarimeter affords optical rotation detection during the pump-pulse illumination period of a few seconds. We illustrate the concept on the photodissociation of the enantiomers of methyl p-tolyl sulfoxide. The sensitivity of rotatory detection, i.e. the minimum rotation angle that can be measured, is determined experimentally including all noise sources to be 0.10 milli-degrees for a measurement time of only one second and an interaction length of 250 μm. The suitability of the presented setup for femtosecond studies is demonstrated in a non-resonant two-photon photodissociation experiment.},
  language  = {en}
}