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A comparative study is carried out on two spectroscopic techniques employed to detect ultrafast absorption changes in the mid-infrared spectral range, namely direct multichannel detection via HgCdTe (MCT) photodiode arrays and the newly established technique of chirped-pulse upconversion (CPU). Whereas both methods are meanwhile individually used in a routine manner, we directly juxtapose their applicability in femtosecond pump-probe experiments based on 1 kHz shot-to-shot data acquisition. Additionally, we examine different phase-matching conditions in the CPU scheme for a given mid-infrared spectrum, thereby simultaneously detecting signals which are separated by more than 200 cm−1.
Shaping and spatiotemporal characterization of sub-10-fs pulses focused by a high-NA objective
(2014)
We describe a setup consisting of a 4 f pulse shaper and a microscope with a high-NA objective lens and discuss the spects most relevant for an undistorted spatiotemporal profile of the focused beam. We demonstrate shaper-assisted pulse compression in focus to a sub-10-fs duration using phase-resolved interferometric spectral modulation (PRISM). We introduce a nanostructure-based method for sub-diffraction spatiotemporal characterization of strongly focused pulses. The distortions caused by optical aberrations and space–time coupling from the shaper can be reduced by careful setup design and alignment to about 10 nm in space and 1 fs in time.
Die vorliegende Dissertation untersucht fünf unterschiedliche Moleküle hinsichtlich ihrer Geometrien im Grund- und angeregten Zustand sowie deren Dynamik
nach elektronischer Anregung. Der Fokus liegt dabei unter anderem auf Pi-konjugierten Systemen, die über eine zusätzliche aliphatische Einheit verbrückt (Paracyclophan-
Derivate) oder erweitert (Pyracen) sind. Die Paracyclophan-Derivate sind ein ideales Modellsystem um Einsicht in Pi-Pi-Wechselwirkungen zu erlangen. Ein
weiterer Schwerpunkt dieser Arbeit beschreibt die Dynamik des resonanzstabilisierten 2-Methylallyl-Radikals. Die Forschung an solchen kleinen Kohlenwasserstoff-Radikalen ist wichtig, da auf deren Grundlage Modelle entwickelt werden können, die zum Beispiel helfen, den Verbrennungsprozess aufzuklären. Aufgrund ihrer Instabilität sind solche kleinen Kohlenwasserstoff-Radikale nicht einfach zu handhaben und das spektroskopische Vermessen stellt immer eine Herausforderung dar.
In der vorliegenden Dissertation wurden Dispergierungseffizienz, Entbündelungseffizienz und
Röhrenqualität von SWNT-Suspensionen untersucht. Die Röhrenqualität wurde durch Messung von Quantenausbeuten bewertet. Außerdem wurden Suspensionen von den drei verschiedenen Rohmaterialien CoMoCAT, Black Sand und HiPCO, hergestellt durch die Behandlung mit Ultraschall und Schermischen, verglichen.
Beim Beschallen zeigte sich wie erwartet eine höhere Dispergierungseffizienz im Vergleich zum Schermischen. Diese war jeweils bei Black Sand am größten, gefolgt von CoMoCAT und HiPCO. Ein Vergleich zwischen zwei HiPCO-Materialien bestätigte die deutlichen Effizienzvorteile
nicht aufgereinigter Materialien. Trotz der viel geringeren Dichte des aufgereinigten HiPCO-Materials, ließ sich dieses durch das Schermischen wesentlich schlechter dispergieren.
Der Effizienzunterschied war jedoch geringer als bei Black Sand und CoMoCAT, was vermutlich auf den geringeren Unterschied der Kohlenstoffanteile zurückzuführen ist. Dieser wiederum hängt von den jeweiligen Herstellungs- und Aufreinigungsverfahren ab.
Die Dispergierungsgeschwindigkeit war für gescherte Black Sand- und CoMoCAT-Proben zu Beginn der Dispergierung höher als für die jeweils beschallten Proben, weshalb durch Kombination der beiden Methoden möglicherweise eine Verbesserung der präparierten Suspensionen bezüglich der drei untersuchten Parameter erreicht werden kann.
Der Vergleich der Entbündelungseffizienzen ergab erneut Vorteile beim Ultraschall gegenüber dem Schermischen. Die beschallten Black Sand- und HiPCO-Proben zeigten hierbei noch eine deutlich effizientere Auftrennung als die Proben des aufgereinigten CoMoCAT-Materials.
Dieses enthält zu jedem Zeitpunkt der Beschallung noch einen entsprechend größeren Anteil an aggregierten Röhren. Beim Schermischen funktionierte die Entbündelung von Black Sand im Vergleich zu CoMoCAT und HiPCO mit Abstand am besten, was sich auch in den ODVerhältnissen
beschallter und gescherter Proben widerspiegelte.
Die beobachtete Quantenausbeute war bei den durch Schermischen dispergierten DGUEinzelrohrproben
um bis zu 50 % höher als bei den beschallten Proben, was auf eine deutlich niedrigere Röhrenbeschädigung und somit auch auf eine höhere Röhrenqualität hindeutete.
Dies wurde auch durch Vergleichsmessungen an Einzelröhren bestätigt. Außerdem dringt bei durch Ultraschall geschnittenen Röhren Wasser ins Röhreninnere ein, was beim Schermischen nicht der Fall ist. Das ermöglicht durch Schermischen vielleicht die Herstellung von Proben mit veränderten Eigenschaften. Beim Vergleich der Materialien zeigte HiPCO die höchste Quantenausbeute. Dieses Herstellungsverfahren liefert also im Vergleich zum
CoMoCAT-Verfahren eine bessere Röhrenqualität. Die um 70 % höheren Quantenausbeuten der Black Sand-Proben im Vergleich zu den CoMoCAT-Proben machten die Röhrenbeschädigungen
bei der Aufreinigung des Rohmaterials deutlich. Werden zudem Beschädigungen durch Ultraschall berücksichtigt, beträgt der Unterschied sogar 250 %.
Die beschallten HiPCO- und Black Sand-Proben der zeitabhängigen Messungen zeigten aufgrund der effizienten Entbündelung den schnellsten Anstieg der uantenausbeuten, welche aufgrund von Beschädigungen durch den Ultraschall, beeinflusst durch die Entbündelungsund
Dispergierungseffizienzen der Materialien, nach 10-20 min wieder abfielen. Die Quantenausbeuten der gescherten Proben stiegen entsprechend langsamer über die gesamte Messzeit von sechs Stunden an.
Die Dispergierung mittels Schermischer bei erhöhter Viskosität führte bei einem Iodixanolanteil von 45 % zu einer fast sechsfach höheren Dispergierungseffizienz im Vergleich zu Wasser.
Auch Lufteinschlüsse scheinen einen Einfluss zu haben, weshalb ein Probenvolumen zwischen 13-14 mL mit dem verwendeten Aufbau am sinnvollsten erscheint. Ob Viskosität und Lufteinschlüsse auch Entbündelungseffizienz und Röhrenqualität beeinflussen, muss noch untersucht werden.
In Kapitel 5 wurde die Dispergierung von Nanoröhren mit kationischem Perylenbisimid untersucht. Nach dem Zusammengeben von PBI-Lösung und SDS-Nanorohrsuspension wurden Flokkulationseffekte beobachtet, welche durch hohe Nanorohr- oder SDS-Konzentrationen verzögert wurden. Das ermöglichte die Herstellung von PBI-Nanorohrfilmen mit Streifenmuster durch Nutzung des Kaffeering-Effektes. Es wurde gezeigt, dass die Nanoröhren in das PBI eingebettet werden können. Allerdings waren die Streifen noch sehr unregelmäßig und die Röhren in den Streifen nicht ausgerichtet.
Die Stabilität der PBI-Nanorohrsuspensionen konnte durch einen Tensidaustausch vom anionischen SDS zum kationischen CTAB verbessert werden. Es konnte gezeigt werden, dass für die Vermeidung von Aggregationen während den dafür nötigen Dialysen unter anderem die möglichst geringe Bewegung der Probe entscheidend ist. Außerdem musste die CTABKrafft-Temperatur von 25 °C berücksichtigt werden. Unterhalb dieser Temperatur bildet das
Tensid keine Mizellen mehr, was die Suspensionen destabilisiert.
Mischexperimente von CTAB-Nanorohrsuspensionen mit Lösungen aus verschiedenen CTAB:PBI-Verhältnissen lieferten Hinweise darauf, dass CTAB alleine die Röhren nicht stabilisiern kann. Ein Grund dafür könnte eine zu geringe Anzahl an positiven Ladungen auf den Röhren sein. Demzufolge wäre immer ein gewisser Anteil an Tensid zur Stabilisierung notwendig. Trotz geringer Tensidbeimischung könnten aber Filme mit in PBI eingebetteten Röhren hergestellt werden. Unter Umständen könnten die Röhren auch in die flüssigkristalline Phase des PBIs eingebettet werden. Ein anderer Grund für die nicht ausreichende Stabilisierung könnte sein, dass die PBI-Aggregate nur sehr schlecht aufgetrennt werden.
Dann könnte das PBI-Adsorptionsverhalten durch eine Verbesserung der Aggregatauftrennung beeinflusst werden.
Zuletzt wurde in der vorliegenden Dissertation die Herstellung von Nanorohrgelfilmen beschrieben.
Neben Homogenität durch Nutzung von Gelatine und Stabilität durch Entfernung von Iodixanol sorgte eine Silikonform für eine einheitliche Dicke und Größe der präparierten (6,5)-Gelfilme. Röhrenaggregationen während der Iodixanolentfernung durch Zentrifugenfiltration
konnten auf die Alterung der verwendeten Suspensionen zurückgeführt werden. Die optischen Dichten der so hergestellten Gelfilme standen immer in ähnlichen Verhältnissen zu denen der Ausgangssuspensionen, sodass die für die Gelfilme benötigten Röhrenkonzentrationen
in den Ausgangssuspensionen relativ genau berechnet werden konnten.
Um das Iodixanol für die Herstellung von (6,5)/(6,4)-Gelfilmen effektiv aus den Suspensionen zu entfernen, wurden drei verschiedene Dialysemembranen getestet. Dabei stellte sich die Membran mit einer Porengröße von 50 kD als bester Kompromiss aus effektiver Iodixanolentfernung
und geringem Röhrenverlust heraus. Durch Einengung der (6,5)/(6,4)-Suspension konnten drei Gelfilme mit ausreichend hohen optischen Dichten hergestellt werden, wobei der dritte Film im Gegensatz zu den ersten beiden aufgrund des immer weiter abnehmenden Probenvolumens eine deutliche Röhrenaggregation zeigt. Dadurch eignen sie sich für weiterführende Experimente, wo mit Hilfe der Transienten-Absorptionsspektroskopie Untersuchungen
zu Energie- und Ladungstransferprozessen zwischen CNTs verschiedener Chiralitäten durchgeführt werden könnten.
In dieser Dissertation wurden zwei Aspekte der Wechselwirkung von Laserpulsen mit Molekülen betrachtet: Erstens wurden numerische Algorithmen, die auf der zeitabhängigen Störungstheorie basieren, zur Berechnung von quantenmechanischen Wellenfunktionen analysiert. Zweitens wurden Effekte der absoluten Phase (Carrier envelope phase = CEP) von Laserpulsen bei der Laseranregung molekularer Systeme analysiert. In den Analysen zum ersten Aspekt wurden zwei verschiedene Algorithmen - in dieser Arbeit als simple und improved algorithm bezeichnet - verwendet, und die Normabweichung von mit diesen Algorithmen berechneten Wellenfunktionen untersucht. Es konnte gezeigt werden, dass diese Normabweichung für beide Algorithmen in zwei unterschiedliche Beiträge zerlegt werden kann. Der erste Normabweichungsbeitrag tritt aufgrund der numerischen Diskretisierung der Zeit auf und verschwindet, wenn der Zeitschritt, der die Dauer der Intervalle für diese Diskretisierung angibt, gegen Null geht. Man kann den ersten Normabweichungsbeitrag mit exzellenter Genauigkeit berechnen und seine Eigenschaften, die sich für die beiden Algorithmen erheblich unterschieden, eingehend analysieren. Der zweite Normabweichungsbeitrag tritt dadurch auf, dass die zeitabhängige Störungstheorie nicht normerhaltend ist, und geht daher gegen Null, wenn die Störungsordnung gegen unendlich geht. Dieser zweite Beitrag ist außerdem in guter Näherung unabhängig vom Zeitschritt und für beide Algorithmen näherungsweise gleich. Des Weiteren kann man das Verhalten des zweiten Normabweichungsbeitrags im Gegensatz zum ersten Beitrag nur qualitativ beschreiben. Für die Analyse zum zweiten Themengebiet dieser Arbeit, den CEP-Effekten, wurde betrachtet, ob CEP-Effekte auch für Laserpulse beliebiger Länge auftreten können. Über eine analytische Betrachtung erkennt man, dass dies für ein Zweiniveausystem nur dann der Fall ist, wenn beide Zustände vor Beginn der Wechselwirkung des Systems mit dem Laserpuls besetzt sind. Man kann aus diesem Ergebnis folgern, dass für einen Laserpuls, der zwei elektronische Zustände eines Moleküls über Einphotonenübergänge koppelt, in der Regel kein CEP-Effekt für beliebige Längen dieses Pulses auftritt. Der Grund dafür ist, dass vor der Wechselwirkung eines molekularen Systems mit einem Laserpuls für dieses üblicherweise nur der elektronische Grundzustand besetzt ist. In dieser Arbeit wird gezeigt, dass dieses Problem durch ein spezielles Zweipulsschema für die Anregung eines molekularen Systems gelöst werden kann. Für dieses Pulsschema wird ein erster Puls verwendet, der zeitlich so kurz ist, dass Wellenpakete in mehreren elektronischen Zuständen angeregt werden. Der nachfolgende zweite Laserpuls ist spektral schmal, und seine zeitliche Länge kann beliebig groß gewählt werden. Man erhält für dieses Pulsschema Observablen, die von der CEP des zweiten Pulses, aber nicht von der CEP des ersten Pulses abhängen; somit ist ein CEP-Effekt nachweisbar. Derartige Observablen sind geometrische Asymmetrien für Zerfallsprodukte von Photodissoziationsreaktionen. Insbesondere unterscheidet sich das hier vorgestellte Pulsschema von anderen Zweipulsschemata, für welche Observablen von der Differenz der CEPs beider Pulse abhängen, aber nicht von der CEP einer der beiden Pulse allein.
Pulse-Sequence Approaches for Multidimensional Electronic Spectroscopy of Ultrafast Photochemistry
(2014)
Observing chemical reactions in real time with femtosecond laser pulses has evolved into a very popular field of research since it provides fascinating insights into the nature of photochemical transformations. Nevertheless, many photochemical reactions are still too complex for which reason the underlying mechanisms and all engaged species cannot be identified thoroughly. In these cases, conventional time-resolved spectroscopy techniques reach their technical limits and advanced approaches are required to follow the conversion of reactants to their products including all reaction intermediates.
The aim of this work was therefore the development of novel methods for ultrafast spectroscopy of photoreactive systems. Though the concept of coherent multidimensional spectroscopy has so far exclusively been used to explore photophysical phenomena, it also offers great potential for the study of photochemical processes due to its capability of extracting spectroscopic information along several frequency dimensions. This allows resolving the photochemical connectivity between various interconvertible molecular species with ultrafast temporal resolution on the basis of their absorption and emission properties as the spectral correlations are explicitly visualized in the detected spectra.
The ring-open merocyanine form of the photochromic compound 6-nitro BIPS was studied in Chap. 4 of this work. Merocyanines and their associated ring-closed spiropyrans are promising candidates for future applications as, for instance, molecular electronics or optical data storage due to their unique property of being switchable between two stable congurations via light illumination. Transient absorption with sub-50 fs temporal resolution and broadband probing was employed to characterize the photodynamics of this system with variable excitation wavelengths. Using global data analysis, it could be inferred that two different merocyanine isomers with differing excited-state lifetimes exist in solution. These isomers differ in the cis/trans conguration in the last bond of the methine bridge. The minority of isomers exist in the all-trans conguration (TTT) while the isomer with a cis conguration of the third dihedral angle (TTC) is dominant. A characteristic band, detected after long pump-probe delays, was attributed to the unidirectional cis->trans photoisomerization reaction of the TTC to the TTT form. The quantum yield of the reaction was estimated to be (18+-4) %. In addition, pronounced coherent vibrational wave-packet oscillations were observed and it was concluded that these signatures are related to the product formation.
Coherent two-dimensional electronic spectroscopy was successfully implemented using a partially collinear pump-probe beam geometry in combination with a femtosecond pulse shaper. The use of a whitelight probe continuum enabled us to probe contributions far-off the diagonal over the complete visible range. By properly adjusting the relative phase between the first two laser pulses with the pulse shaper, the principle of phase-cycling was explained and it was demonstrated that the measurement can be carried out in the so-called "rotating frame" in which the observed frequencies detected during the coherence time are shifted to lower values. It was shown that these concepts allow the extraction of the desired background-free photon echo while the amount of necessary data points is highly reduced.
In order to put our proposal of multidimensional spectroscopy of photoreactive systems into practice, third-order two- and three-dimensional spectroscopy was then employed for an in-depth analysis of a photoreactive process, in which the photoisomerization of 6-nitro BIPS served as a model system. The measured two-dimensional spectra revealed the cis->trans photoisomerization after long population times. By collecting a large data set of two-dimensional spectra for short population times and by applying a Fourier transform along the population time axis, the third-order three-dimensional spectrum was obtained. The novelty of this approach compared to coherent two-dimensional spectroscopy is the introduction of a third axis associated with the vibrational frequencies of the molecular system. In this way, the formation of the reaction product was evidenced and it was shown that the product is formed in its first excited singlet state within 200 fs after excitation. This method hence visualizes the photochemical connections between different reactive molecular species in an intuitive manner and further exposes the normal modes connecting reactant and product. Such conclusions cannot be drawn with conventional third-order techniques such as transient absorption since they are
not capable of capturing the full third-order response, but only a subset of it. The reaction mechanism and the role of the observed vibrational modes were uncovered by comparing the experimental data with the results of high-level quantum-chemical calculations performed by our collaborators in the group of Prof. B. Engels from the
theoretical chemistry department at the University of Würzburg. Specific calculated molecular normal modes could be assigned to the experimentally observed vibrational frequencies and potential energy surfaces of the electronic ground state and of the first excited state were computed. The technique implemented in this chapter is general and is applicable for the time-resolved analysis of a wide range of chemical reaction networks.
In the first part of Chap. 5, coherent two-dimensional spectroscopy was employed to track the reaction paths of the related 6,8-dinitro BIPS after S1 excitation. Several differences to the photochemical properties of 6-nitro BIPS were found. From the 2D spectra, the cis-trans isomerization between the two merocyanine isomers could be excluded as a major reaction path for this compound. To explore the dynamics after reexcitation to higher-lying electronic states, pump-repump-probe spectroscopy was implemented and the formation of a new species, a radical cation, was observed. To identify the precursor isomer, triggered-exchange two-dimensional spectroscopy, a fifth-order technique previously only available in the infrared regime for vibrational transitions, was implemented for the first time for electronic excitations in the visible. This approach combines the properties of the pump-repump-probe technique with the potential of coherent two-dimensional spectroscopy. It correlates the absorption frequency of a reactive molecular species with the emission signatures of the product formed from this species after an additional absorption of a photon. Using this method, it was unambiguously proven that only the TTC isomer reacts to the radical cation thus forming the precursor species of the reaction. Electronic triggered-exchange two-dimensional spectroscopy is hence another improved technology for time-resolved spectroscopy with applications in the study of multistep photoreactions and higher-lying electronic states. While in the two preceding chapters third- and fifth-order experiments were discussed that neglect the vectorial character of light-matter interactions, Chap. 6 focused on a novel theoretical formalism enabling the description of light fields optimized for polarization-sensitive higher-order nonlinearities. This formalism is based on the von Neumann time-frequency representation of shaped femtosecond laser pulses which permits the definition of multipulse sequences on a discrete time-frequency lattice. Hence, not only the temporal spacing between subpulses is adjustable, but also the center frequencies may be adapted such that they fit the experimental requirements. This method was generalized to the description of pulse sequences with time-varying polarization states. It was shown that by using this description, the polarization ellipticity, orientation angle, relative phase and intensity, and the time-frequency location of each subpulse is explicitly controllable. The accuracy of the transformations from Fourier space to von Neumann domain and vice versa was demonstrated. Moreover, a strict accordance between the von Neumann polarization parameters with the conventional parameters in time domain was found for well separated subpulses. A potential future application of this approach is polarization-sensitive multidimensional spectroscopy in which hidden cross peaks may be isolated by defining the pulses in the von Neumann picture with suitable polarization sequences. This method could also be used in quantum control experiments in which the polarization of the light field is used as a major control knob.
This thesis summarizes our efforts to open the field of femtochemistry to the concept of coherent multidimensional electronic spectroscopy. Making use of femtosecond pulse shaping, sub-50 fs temporal resolution, broadband spectral probing, higher-order nonlinearities, and new types of laser pulse descriptions, the presented methods might stimulate further future advancements in this research area.
Plasmonic modes supported by noble-metal nanostructures offer strong subwavelength electric-field confinement and promise the realization of nanometer-scale integrated optical circuits with well-defined functionality. In order to measure the spectral and spatial response functions of such plasmonic elements, we combine a confocal microscope setup with spectral interferometry detection. The setup, data acquisition, and data evaluation are discussed in detail by means of exemplary experiments involving propagating plasmons transmitted through silver nanowires. By considering and experimentally calibrating any setup-inherent signal delay with an accuracy of 1 fs, we are able to extract correct timing information of propagating plasmons. The method can be applied, e.g., to determine the dispersion and group velocity of propagating plasmons in nanostructures, and can be extended towards the investigation of nonlinear phenomena.
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.
Numerical simulations and an analytic approach based on transmission line theory are used to design splitters for nano-plasmonic signal processing that allow to arbitrarily adjust the ratio of transmission from an input into two different output arms. By adjusting the geometrical parameters of the structure, either a high bandwidth or a sharp transmission resonance is obtained. Switching between the two arms can be achieved by modulating the effective refractive index of the waveguide. Employing the instantaneous Kerr effect, switching rates in the THz regime are potentially feasible. The suggested devices are of interest for future applications in nanoplasmonic information processing.
The experimental technique predominantly employed within the scope of this Thesis constitutes one subarea of femtochemistry: the time-resolved spectroscopy of photoin-
duced chemical reactions in the liquid phase by means of molecular signatures in the mid-infrared (MIR) spectral range. Probing transient vibrational states, i.e., dynamic
changes in the vibrational motion of specic molecular subunits or functional Groups allows for a distinct separation and assignment of measured signals to emerging molecular species. For this purpose, one key building block is indispensable, which most of the investigations carried out within the eld of femtochemistry have in common: a coherent light source delivering ultrashort laser pulses with a temporal duration that matches the femtosecond time scale on which molecular motions typically occur. This instrumentation enables the observation of photoinduced chemical reactions from the
starting point|the excitation event to the appearance of intermediates to the nal formation of stable photoproducts after several pico- or nanoseconds.
This work comprises the acquisition and presentation of time-resolved spectroscopic data related to promising molecular systems upon photoexcitation as well as the im-
plementation and testing of experimental optical techniques both for the presented experiments but as well for experiments conceivable in the future. In addition, linear spectroscopy measurements and quantum-chemical simulations on the emerging chemical species have been carried out. In so doing, the primary processes and subse-
quently emerging reaction products of two compounds on a timescale of several nanoseconds after photoexcitation have been elucidated in great detail. Both compounds, the
[Mn(CO)3(tpm)]+ (tpm = tris(2-pyrazolyl)methane) CO-releasing molecule (CORM) and the 5-diazo Meldrum's acid (DMA), are of academic interest but in addition belong
to molecular classes that might be utilized in the near future as dark-stable prodrugs under physiological conditions or that are already utilized in industrial chemistry procedures, respectively. The ndings of both studies gave rise to implement and examine two techniques for prospective transient absorption experiments, namely the shaping and characterization of ultraviolet (UV) laser pulses and the recording of two-photon excitation spectra. Beyond that, since each of the depicted experiments is based on the detection of weak transient absorption signals in the MIR spectral region, two dif-
ferent detection schemes, via chirped-pulse upconversion (CPU) on the one hand and via direct multichannel MCT detection on the other hand, have been juxtaposed at the
conclusion of this work. Since both techniques are suitable in femtosecond pump-probe measurements but thereby exhibit individual strengths and weaknesses, a comparative study provides clarication of the respective pros and cons. The first study introduced within this work investigates the complex photochemistry
of DMA, a photoactive compound used in lithography and industrial chemistry. By femtosecond MIR transient absorption spectroscopy covering several nanoseconds, the
light-induced dynamics and ultrafast formation of several photoproducts from the manifold of reaction pathways have been disclosed to form a coherent picture of the overall
reaction scheme. After UV excitation of DMA dissolved in methanol to the second excited state S2, 70% of excited molecules relax back to the S0 ground state. In compet-
ing processes, they can either undergo an intramolecular Wolff rearrangement to form ketene, which reacts with a solvent molecule to an enol intermediate and further to carboxylate ester, or they rst relax to the DMA S1 state, from where they can isomerize to a diazirine. The third competing reaction channel, having the lowest quantum efficiency with respect to the rst two channels, is the formation of a singlet carbene out of the S1 state. From there an ylide can arise or, via an intersystem crossing, the triplet form of the carbene follows. Whereas the primary reaction steps occur on a picosecond timescale, the subsequently arising intermediates and stable photoproducts are formed
within a few hundreds to thousands of picoseconds. For a reliable identication of the involved compounds, density functional theory calculations on the normal modes and
Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy of the reactant and the photoproducts in the chemical equilibrium accompany the analysis of the transient spectra. Additional experiments in ethanol and isopropanol led to slight spectral shifts as well as elongated time
constants due to steric hindrance in transient spectra connected with the ester Formation channel, further substantiating the assignment of the occurring reaction pathways and photoproducts.
The study demonstrated that the combination of linear and time-resolved spectroscopic measurements in conjunction with quantum-chemical calculations constitutes a powerful tool to unravel even highly complex photoreactions exhibiting multiple consecutive intermediate states within parallel reaction pathways. Although some of the individual reaction steps, for example the ketene formation via Wolff rearrangement, have been observed on ultrashort time scales before, this work encompassed the Observation of the whole set of appearing photoproducts of DMA in different alcohol solutions within several nanoseconds. In this sense, the ultrafast photochemistry of DMA represents a prototype example for a multisequential reaction scheme, elucidated by the capabilities of femtosecond MIR spectroscopy.
With a modified instrumentation concerning amongst others the system delivering the fundamental laser pulses or the generation of the UV pump pulses, the next ob-
jective within this work was to elucidate the primary processes upon UV Irradiation of a manganese tricarbonyl CORM in aqueous environment. The time-resolved
experiment was performed with two different pump wavelengths and furthermore supported by linear spectroscopy methods and time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) calculations on the excited states as well as DFT calculations on the ground
states. The measurements revealed that irradiating the compound with UV excitation pulses primarily leads to ultrafast photolysis of one CO ligand. Geminate recombination may occur within one picosecond but it remains a minor process as the photolyzed CO
group is liberated and the unoccupied coordination site is predominantly filled by an incoming solvent molecule. There was no evidence for hot CO bands, i.e., the remaining CO ligands|in the dicarbonyl photoproduct as well as in the intact CORM are not vibrationally excited through the UV excitation of the CORM. According to this, the excess energy merges into low-frequency vibrational modes associated with the molecule as a whole. Since studies on a macroscopic scale at irradiation times of several minutes prove that UV irradiation eventually leads to the release of two or even all three CO
ligands, further loss of CO most likely necessitates manganese oxidation or another interaction with light. To clarify the latter, a consecutive UV pulse was employed in order to excite the photoproducts subsequent to the initial pump interaction. However, the data obtained was not instructive enough to denitely exclude the manganese oxidation being responsible for the loss of further CO groups. Besides the exchange of a CO Group by a solvent molecule or the geminate recombination, the employment of two different excitation wavelengths in combination with ndings derived from the TDDFT calculations suggested another reaction process, namely the possibility that the excitation does not lead to any bond cleavage at all. As the CORM under investigation is tissue-selective and cytotoxic against cancer cells, knowledge of these rst photoinduced reaction steps is essential for a full understanding of its biological activity. Inspired by these two studies, experimental techniques for prospective transient absorption measurements have been implemented and tested within preparative measure-
ments. First, in the course of a UV-pump-MIR-probe experiment with specically tailored excitation pulses, one could pursue the aim of coherently controlling the outcome of a photoreaction in the liquid phase. Out of the rich photochemistry of DMA the vibrational signature of a particular molecular species might thereby serve as a feedback signal, which is a central part of a learning loop that adaptively determines the pulse shape that steers the quantum mechanical system upon photoexcitation into a desired direction. This motivated the installation and testing of devices by means of which the shaping and characterization of ultrashort laser pulses in the UV could be performed. Second, motivated by the biological applications of CORMs, one can imagine a scenario where a certain amount of CORMs is deposited inside cancerous tissue. Since the activation of CO loss by means of UV pulses is not possible due to the absorption characteristics of biological tissue, the simultaneous excitation via two photons from the visible spectral regime seems appealing. However, success or failure of such an application depends on whether the deposited compound efficiently absorbs two photons simultaneously, i.e., whether the two-photon absorption cross section is large enough. Therefore, a setup to record two-photon excitation spectra under full consideration of
the crucial laser pulse parameters like the pulse duration, energy and central wavelength was arranged and tested. The rst results were obtained with a commercially available reference system (Mn2CO10) but the setup as well as the described measurement and
data analysis procedure can easily be applied to record the two-photon absorption cross section of more promising molecular systems. Third, as the detection of probe pulses
in the MIR spectral region is part of each time-resolved measurement throughout this thesis, a comparison between the newly established technique of CPU and direct multi-
channel MCT detection is presented by means of pump{probe experiments on Mn2CO10 and Co4CO12 with a 1 kHz shot-to-shot data acquisition. It was shown that the CPU detection technique scores with its high spectral resolution and coverage of the easy-to-handle and more cost-effective CCD detectors. On the other hand, in the course of the additional nonlinear upconversion process intensity fluctuations of the chirped fundamental pulses are transferred to the probe spectrum in the visible regime. This entails a lower signal-to-noise ratio than the direct MCT detection, which can be compensated by an additional normalization procedure applied to the CPU probe pulses. As a consequence, the CPU detection scheme offers more flexibility for future investigations
employing MIR probe pulses. This is of great importance for many applications within the presented eld of femtochemistry as a huge variety of time-resolved investigations on a multitude of systems in the liquid phase is based on the detection of weak transient
absorption signals in the MIR spectral region.
We calculate two-dimensional (2D) spectra reflecting the time-dependent electronic predissociation of a diatomic molecule. The laser-excited electronic state is coupled non-adiabatically to a fragment channel, leading to the decay of the prepared quasi-bound states. This decay can be monitored by the three-pulse configuration employed in optical 2D spectroscopy. It is shown that in this way it is possible to state-selectively characterize the time-dependent population of resonance states with different lifetimes. A model of the NaI molecule serves as a numerical example.
Coherent two-dimensional electronic spectroscopy in the Soret band of a chiral porphyrin dimer
(2013)
Using coherent two-dimensional (2D) electronic spectroscopy in fully noncollinear geometry, we observe the excitonic coupling of β,β'-linked bis[tetraphenylporphyrinato-zinc(II)] on an ultrafast timescale in the excited state. The results for two states in the Soret band originating from an excitonic splitting are explained by population transfer with approximately 100 fs from the energetically higher to the lower excitonic state. This interpretation is consistent with exemplary calculations of 2D spectra for a model four-level system with coupling.
In this work, femtosecond laser pulses are used to launch optical excitations on different nanostructures. The excitations are confined below the diffraction limit and propagate along the nanostructures.
Fundamental properties of these ultrashort optical near fields are determined by characterizing the far-field emission after propagation with a setup developed for this task. Furthermore, control of the nanooptical excitations' spatial and temporal evolution is demonstrated for a designed nanostructure.
In the context of this dissertation very long ranged exciton diffusion lengths (LD) were simulated for perylene-based materials under ideal conditions. This leads to the conclusion that the short LD values in existing materials result from an extrinsic and intrinsic immobilization. The latter, which is a specific material property, is based on a relaxation of the exciton into self-trapping states. An in-depth understanding of the atomistic processes defining self-trapping is essential to developing materials with long LD in the future, in which intrinsic immobilization is prevented. For the development of such a mechanistic understanding it is crucial that a clear relationship between molecular structure and LD is available. This is given by single crystals of diindeno perylene (DIP) and α-perylene tetracarboxylic anhydride (α-PTCDA). An extraordinary large LD of 90 nm was measured for the first one, while the latter possesses only 22 nm. Part of this thesis was to deliver reasons for this discrepancy. Only self-trapping comes into question to explain the different LD values. One reason for the different self-trapping in DIP and α-PTCDA could lie in the electronic structure. However, it was possible to demonstrate that a wide range of perylene-based materials possess no significant differences in their electronic structures. Consequently, such differences can be neglected for the explanation of immobilization mechanisms for the exciton. A further possible explanation could be polarization effects in the crystal, which influences the electronic structure of perylene based materials differently. Especially their influence on charge transfer (CT) states, which are located above the optically bright Frenkel state, was in question because such states could be stabilized by a polarizable surrounding. A significant influence of polarization effects on all considered states were excluded by using a polarizable continuum model. Hence, the small LD values in α-PTCDA are an evidence for self-trapping, which produces a crystal structure built up by π-stacks, while the one of DIP is of herringbone type. Since polarization effects can be neglected, is the dimer only via steric restrictions influenced by the crystal. Hence, a method describing self-trapping has to consider such effects, so that a mechanical embedding QM/MM approach is sufficient. Now, potential energy surfaces were calculated, on which wave packet dynamics were subsequently performed. In this way, atomistic mechanisms for the immobilization of excitons were described for the first time in organic materials. Self-trapping was studied in crystals of α-PTCDA by potential energy surfaces, which map an intermolecular shift motion of the dimer in the crystal. An immobilization of excitons occurs within 500 fs, which results from an irreversible energy loss together with a local deformation of the crystal lattice. This prevents a further transport of the exciton. In the case of DIP, this immobilization does not proceed due to high barriers. These barriers result from the herringbone type packing motif in the DIP crystal. This discrepancy in the dynamics explains the different LD values in DIP and α-PTCDA. In a further example, an exciton immobilization was found in helical π-aggregates of perylene tetracarboxylic bisimide (PBI) molecules. Self-trapping is caused by a relaxation mechanism, in which the exciton is transferred by asymmetric vibrations of the aggregate from the bright to a dark Frenkel state within 200 fs, whereby the transition is mediated by a CT state. However, the CT state is almost non-populated during the whole mechanism so that its participation could not yet be proven experimentally. This entire procedure is solely possible in helical aggregates, because only for such structures is there a CT state located next to the bright Frenkel state. At the final Frenkel state a torsional motion around the π-stacking axis is possible so that the loss in energy and the local rearrangement of the aggregate structure occurs, which means a self-trapping of the exciton. This mechanism is in perfect agreement with all available experimental data. These insights allow the conclusion that in future materials for organic solar cells an irreversible and ultrafast deformation of aggregates after photo-absorption must be avoided. Only in this way long LD values can be achieved and exciton self-trapping can be prevented. However, small LD values are always predicted in helical aggregates of perylene-based materials, because exciton immobilization occurs already due to small molecular motions. For this reason such aggregates are inappropriate for the use in organic solar cells. Long LD values are expected for aggregate structures with long intermolecular shifts or molecules with bulky substituents.
KasA is a key enzyme which plays an essential part in the biosynthetic pathway of mycolic acids, the building block of cell wall in Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Its importance was demonstrated by the finding that the depletion of KasA leads to the cell lysis of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Since Mycobacterium tuberculosis is a pathogen of tuberculosis, the second leading cause of death from an infectious disease worldwide, KasA has drawn attention as one of the attractive drug targets against tuberculosis. Due to the emergence of extensively drug-resistant strains which make most of the known antibiotics for treating tuberculosis ineffective, it became an urgent issue to develop new drugs against tuberculosis. In chapter 3.1, the protonation state of the catalytic residues in the resting state was mainly addressed. The FEP computation and MD simulations were employed for this investigation, and the results showed that the zwitterionic state is most probable. To underpin this conclusion with more solid data, The PESs for the proton transfer between the neutral and zwitterionic state were computed in the context of QM/MM. However, due to the strong dependency of the QM/MM optimization on the initial structure, it was not possible to obtain consistent results from these computations. To circumvent this problem, QM/MM based umbrella sampling was carried out with a semi-empirical method (RM1), and the resulting PMF surface indicated that the zwitterionic state is more stable than the neutral state. In chapter 3.2, the protonation state of significant residues in the acyl-enzyme state was investigated. Unlike other catalytic residues, the protonation state of His311 is ambiguous in the acyl-enzyme state, and different decarboxylation mechanisms can be derived depending on the protonation state of His311 in the acyl-enzyme state. Therefore, FEP computations were carried out to find most probable protonation state of His311 in terms of free energy, and the results showed that the pKa value at Nδ is considerably lowered by the enzyme environment while that of Nε is not. Additionally, the PMF profiles for the proton transfer between Lys340 and Glu354 were computed using QM/MM based umbrellas sampling method, and the results showed that the property of the Lys340/Glu354 pair is neutral rather than ionic when His311 is protonated at Nε. Moreover, a relatively larger ionic character of the Lys340/Glu354 pair when His311 is doubly protonated provides a valuable insight into how the Lys340/Glu354 pair plays a role in shifting the protonated state from Nδ to Nε in His311 after the acyl-transfer step. Overall, the results demonstrated that His311 is neutral and protonated at Nε, and the Lys340/Glu354 pair is also neutral in the acyl-enzyme state. Those computational results lead to the conclusion that the decarboxylation reaction is facilitated by an oxyanion hole which is comprised of two catalytic histidines. In chapter 3.3, the protonation state of catalytic residues in the resting state was revisited because a recent benchmark study showed that the employed semi-empirical method (RM1) in chapter 3.1 tends to overestimate the stabilization of the zwitterionic state. Furthermore, the Lys340/Glu354 pair was considered as purely ionic in chapter 3.1, while it actually has a mixed neutral and ionic character as demonstrated in chapter 3.2. The new investigations employed a larger QM region including the Lys340/Glu354 pair with the BLYP/6-31G** approach, which was proven to be accurate enough for the present purpose by benchmark computations. The new results from the QM/MM MD and FEP computations indicated the catalytic residues to be neutral most probably in the resting state, and this in turn brought up the question how KasA can be activated to initiate the catalytic reaction. On the basis of the results from the MD simulations and FEP computations for the His311Ala mutant in chapter 3.1, we hypothesized that the open conformation of Phe404 would trigger the activation of the catalytic residues by the formation of a strong hydrogen bond. The QM/MM MD simulation proved that the activation of the catalytic residues can indeed be accomplished by the open conformation of Phe404 we suggested, and the corresponding force field based PMF profile also indicated that this conformational change is energetically feasible. The distribution of hydrophilic and hydrophobic residues in the malonyl binding pocket in conjunction with our computational results further provided a valuable insight into the detailed process how the catalytic residues is activated upon the substrate entering.
Light-induced excitation of matter proceeds within femtoseconds, resulting in excited states. Originating from these states chemical reaction mechanisms, like isomerization or bond formation, set in. Photophysical mechanisms like energy distribution and excitonic delocalization also occur. Thus, the reaction scheme has to be disentangled by assessing the importance of each process. Spectroscopic methods based on fs laser pulses have emerged as a versatile tool to study these reactions. Within this thesis time-resolved experiments with fs laser pulses on various molecular systems were performed. Novel photosystems, with possible applications ranging from ultrathin molecular wires to molecular switches, were extensively characterized. To resolve the complex kinetics of the investigated systems, time-resolved techniques had to be newly developed. By combining a visible excitation pulse pair with an additional pulse and a continuum probe electronic triggered-exchange two-dimensional spectroscopy (TE2D) was demonstrated for the first time. This goal was accomplished by combining a three-color transient-absorption setup with a pulse shaper. Hence, 2D spectroscopy with a continuum probe was also implemented. Using these methods two different molecular systems in solution were characterized in a comprehensive manner. (ZnTPP)2, a directly beta,beta’-linked Zn-metallated bisporphyrin, and a spiropyran-merocyanine photosystem, 6,8-dinitro BIPS, were characterized. (ZnTPP)2 is a homodimer, featuring strong excitonic effects. These manifest themselves in a twofold splitting of the Soret band (S2). 6,8-Dinitro BIPS exists in one of two possible conformations. The ring closed spiropyran absorbs only in the UV, while the ring open merocyanine also absorbs in the visible. For both molecular systems photodynamics upon illumination were monitored using transient-absorption. However, the obtained results were ambiguous, necessitating more complex methods. In the case of (ZnTPP)2 first the monomeric building block was characterized. There, population transfer from the S2 state into S1 within 2 ps was identified. Afterwards, intersystem crossing proceeds within 2 ns. For (ZnTPP)2 similar pathways were found, albeit the relaxation is faster. The intersystem crossing with 1.5 ns was not only indirectly deduced but directly measured by probing in the NIR spectral range. The excitonic influence of was investigated by coherent 2D spectroscopy in the Soret band. Population transfer within S2 was directly visualized on a time-scale of 100 fs. Calculation of the 2D spectra of a simple homodimer confirmed the results. After this analysis of the distinct excitonic character, this molecule may serve as a building block for larger porphyrin arrays with applications ranging from asymmetric catalysis over biomimicry of electron-transfer to organic optical devices. The second photosystem was the molecular switch 6,8-dinitro BIPS, existing in two conformations. Merocyanine is the more stable form in thermal equilibrium. Transient-absorption measurements uncovered that the sample consisted of a mixture of two merocyanine isomers, referred to as TTC and TTT. However, both isomers are capable of ring-closure forming spiropyran. The remaining excited molecules return to the ground state radiatively. Conducting 2D measurements utilizing a continuum probe the differing photochemistry of both isomers was examined in a single measurement. No isomerization between these conformations was detected. Therefore, 6,8-dinitro BIPS performs a concerted switching without long-living intermediates. This was confirmed by a pump-repump-probe scan. 6,8-DinitroBIPS can be closed by visible and opened by UV pulses using subsequent pulses and vice versa. These mechanisms via singlet pathways satisfy an important criterion for a unimolecular switching device. A second pump-repump-probe experiment showed that the sample is ionized, resulting in a merocyanine radical cation, when the first excited state is resonantly excited. Furthermore, by implementing TE2Dspectroscopy, it was elucidated that only TTC was ionized. Taking all this into account new techniques were developed and complex molecular systems were characterized within this thesis. Deeper insight into the photodynamics of (ZnTPP)2and 6,8-dinitro BIPS was gained by adapting transient absorption for the NIR spectral range, constructing a 2D setup in pump-probe geometry, and combining it with multipulse excitation to coherent TE2D. All techniques solved the questions for which they were constructed, but they are not limited to these cases. Especially TE2D opens new roads in photochemistry. By connecting reactant, product and the corresponding intermediates, a chemical reaction can be tracked through all stages, making unambiguous identification of the reactive states feasible. Thus, fundamental insight into the photochemistry of molecular compounds is gained.
Analyse der chemischen Reaktionen ungesättigter Verbindungen mit FEL- und Synchrotronstrahlung
(2013)
Brilliante Strahlungsquellen werden heute vielfach in der Forschung eingesetzt um Kristallstrukturen, Oberflächeneigenschaften oder Reaktionen zu untersuchen. Als Strahlungsquellen werden dafür bevorzugt Freie Elektronenlaser (FEL) oder Synchrotrons eingesetzt, da sie über weite Bereiche durchstimmbar sind und einen hohen Photonenfluss bereitstellen. Im Rahmen der vorliegenden Dissertation werden beide Lichtquellen verwendet um einerseits Isomere von Kohlenwasserstoffradikalen zu identifizieren und andererseits das Verhalten von Borylen und ungesättigten Verbindungen bei Photoionisation zu dokumentieren. Als erstes Experiment am FEL wurde ein IR-Spektrum von gasförmigen Allylradikalen aufgenommen. Das Allyl war ein Testlauf, da es als Kohlenwasserstoffradikal mit einer kleinen Dipolmomentänderung ein gutes Beispiel für ähnliche Verbindungen ist. Trotz der kleinen Änderung des Dipolmoments und der geringen Teilchendichte der Radikale in der Gasphase konnte ein gutes IR-Spektrum mit der IR-UV-Doppelresonanzmethode aufgenommen werden und die beobachteten Banden mit der Literatur zugeordnet werden. Das 3-Trifluoromethyl-3-Phenyl-carben (TFPC) wurde pyrolytisch aus 3-Trifluoromethyl-3-Phenyl-diazirin erzeugt. Dabei kam es beim Großteil der Carbene zu einer Umlagerung zu Trifluorstyrol. Neben dem Hauptprodukt Trifluorstyrol wurde das Triplett TFPC als Nebenprodukt identifiziert. Zusätzlich wurden die Isomerisierungsbarrieren für den Triplett- und Singulett-Übergangszustand berechnet. Die Radikale 1-Phenylpropargyl und 3-Phenylpropargyl sind anhand ihrer IR-Spektren unterscheidbar und lagern sich nicht ineinander oder in Indenyl um. Ausgehend von beiden Radikalen bilden sich die identischen Dimerisierungsprodukte im Massenkanal m/z = 230 (p-Terphenyl) und 228 (1-Phenylethinylnaphthalin (1PEN)). Außergewöhnlich war die Exklusivität dieser Produkte. Somit müssen deren Reaktionsmechanismen kinetisch viel schneller sein. Die Massen m/z = 230 und 228 waren bereits aus einer massenspektrometrischen Studie ausgehend von Benzol und Ethin bekannt, in der ihre Struktur jedoch nicht geklärt wurde. Somit müssen die gefundenen Dimerisierungsprodukte p-Terphenyl und 1PEN wichtige Intermediate bei der Entstehung von polyzyklischen aromatischen Kohlenwasserstoffen (PAK) und Ruß sein. Von gasförmigen NTCDA wurde mittels der TPEPICO-Methode am Synchrotron Schwellenphotoelektronenspektren aufgenommen. Dabei konnte die adiabatische Ionisierungsenergie (IE(ad)) zu 9.66 eV bestimmt werden. Weiterhin wurden noch fünf angeregte Zustände beobachtet, die mittels quantenmechanischer Berechnungen zugeordnet wurden. Es wurde die Photoionisation des Cycloheptatrienradikals (Tropyl) untersucht. Dabei wurde die erste Bande bei 6.23 eV der IE(ad) zugeordnet. Mit einer Franck-Condon Simulation wurden die beiden Schwingungsprogressionen einer CC-Streckschwingung (ν16+) und einer Kombination aus einer Ringatmung (ν2+) und ν16+ zugeordnet. Der erste Triplett- und Singulettzustand des angeregten Tropylkations konnte in Übereinstimmung mit der Literatur zugeordnet werden. Eine Schulter bei 9.85 eV und die intensivste Bande bei 11.6 eV konnten nicht eindeutig interpretiert werden. Neben dem Tropyl erscheint bei etwa 10.55 eV sein dissoziatives Zersetzungsprodukt, das Cyclopentadienylkation. Die IE(ad) des Borylenkomplex [(CO)5CrBN(SiMe3)2] wurde zu 7.1 eV bestimmt. Mit steigender Photonenenergie wurden alle CO-Liganden sequenziell abgespalten, während der Borligand auch bei 15 eV noch nicht dissoziierte. Von den fünf abgespaltenen CO-Liganden konnte die Auftrittsenergie bei 0 K unter Berücksichtigung der kinetischen Verschiebung gefittet werden. Durch einen einfachen thermodynamischen Zyklus wurden aus den Auftrittsenergien der Kationen die Bindungsenergien berechnet. Dabei zeigte sich, dass die zweite Bindungsenergie im Kation erheblich stärker ist als die erste. Dies deutet einen starken trans-Effekt des Borliganden an. In der Dissertation wurden die adiabatische Ionisierungsenergie der Moleküle sowie die Auftrittsenergien der Fragmente und die Bindungsenergien bestimmt. Zudem konnten Isomere anhand ihrer IR-Spektren unterschieden und ihre Dimerisierungsprodukte identifiziert werden. Damit wurden mit p-Terphenyl und 1PEN zwei weitere bedeutende Intermediate im Bildungsmechanismus von Ruß strukturell aufgeklärt. Die Beteiligung dieser Dimerisierungsprodukte am Bildungsmechanismus der PAK initiiert zukünftige Fragen. Was geschieht z.B. mit p-Terphenyl und 1PEN nach ihrer Bildung? Reagieren sie chemisch zu größeren Molekülen oder setzt bei ihnen bereits die Akkumulation zu Partikeln ein? Zusätzlich ist die Frage, ob Phenylpropargyl aus der Reaktion von Phenyl- und Propargylradikalen entsteht noch offen. Die erzielten Resultate haben einen wichtigen Schritt im Bildungsmechanismus der PAK identifiziert und damit die Grundlage für zukünftige Experimente gelegt.
The SARS virus is the etiological agent of the severe acute respiratory syndrome, a deadly disease that caused more than 700 causalities in 2003. One of its viral proteins, the SARS coronavirus main protease, is considered as a potential drug target and represents an important model system for other coronaviruses. Despite extensive knowledge about this enzyme, it still lacks an effective anti-viral drug. Furthermore, it possesses some unusual features related to its active-site region. This work gives atomistic insights into the SARS coronavirus main protease and tries to reveal mechanistic aspects that control catalysis and inhibition. Thereby, it applies state-of-the-art computational methods to develop models for this enzyme that are capable to reproduce and interpreting the experimental observations. The theoretical investigations are elaborated over four main fields that assess the accuracy of the used methods, and employ them to understand the function of the active-site region, the inhibition mechanism, and the ligand binding. The testing of different quantum chemical methods reveals that their performance depends partly on the employed model. This can be a gas phase description, a continuum solvent model, or a hybrid QM/MM approach. The latter represents the preferred method for the atomistic modeling of biochemical reactions. A benchmarking uncovers some serious problems for semi-empirical methods when applied in proton transfer reactions. To understand substrate cleavage and inhibition of SARS coronavirus main protease, proton transfer reactions between the Cys/His catalytic dyad are calculated. Results show that the switching between neutral and zwitterionic state plays a central role for both mechanisms. It is demonstrated that this electrostatic trigger is remarkably influenced by substrate binding. Whereas the occupation of the active-site by the substrate leads to a fostered zwitterion formation, the inhibitor binding does not mimic this effect for the employed example. The underlying reason is related to the coverage of the active-site by the ligand, which gives new implications for rational improvements of inhibitors. More detailed insights into reversible and irreversible inhibition are derived from in silico screenings for the class of Michael acceptors that follow a conjugated addition reaction. From the comparison of several substitution patterns it becomes obvious that different inhibitor warheads follow different mechanisms. Nevertheless, the initial formation of a zwitterionic catalytic dyad is found as a common precondition for all inhibition reactions. Finally, non-covalent inhibitor binding is investigated for the case of SARS coranavirus main protease in complex with the inhibitor TS174. A novel workflow is developed that includes an interplay between theory and experiment in terms of molecular dynamic simulation, tabu search, and X-ray structure refinement. The results show that inhibitor binding is possible for multiple poses and stereoisomers of TS174.
Optimal open-loop control, i.e. the application of an analytically derived control rule, is demonstrated for nanooptical excitations using polarization-shaped laser pulses. Optimal spatial near-field localization in gold nanoprisms and excitation switching is realized by applying a shift to the relative phase of the two polarization components. The achieved near-field switching confirms theoretical predictions, proves the applicability of predefined control rules in nanooptical light–matter interaction and reveals local mode interference to be an important control mechanism.
Bei Verbrennungsprozessen im Otto-Motor, beim Raffinationsprozess in Erdölraffinerien, im interstellaren Raum oder in der Chemie der Erdatmosphäre spielen Moleküle, wie sie in dieser Arbeit untersucht wurden, eine wichtige Rolle. Allerdings stellt es eine große Herausforderung dar, solch reaktive Substanzen zu erzeugen und zu handhaben. Um das Ethyl-Radikal, ein wichtiges Intermediat z.B. in der Erzeugung von Ethylen, zu untersuchen, wurde eine bestehende Apparatur modifiziert. Diese ermöglicht es, die Geschwindigkeitsverteilung der Fragmente (Ionen oder Elektronen) zweidimensional aufzuzeichnen, die nach der Anregung mittels Laserlicht durch Photodissoziation entstehen. Diese velocity-map imaging Apparatur wurde in einem ersten Schritt mittels der Photodissoziation von Pyrrol bei 240 nm kalibriert. Cycloheptatrien konnte erfolgreich auf seine Photodissoziation untersucht werden, was als Test des VMI-Experiment genutzt wurde. Die gewonnenen Ergebnisse stimmten mit Resultaten überein, welche durch Doppler-Fragmentspektroskopie in dieser und früheren Arbeiten gewonnen wurden. Zwischen 11 und 13 % der Überschussenergie gehen dabei in die Translation des H-Atoms. • Das Ethyl-Radikal zeigte, als das erste mit unserer VMI-Apparatur untersuchte Radikal, eine interessante Photodissoziation: Wird es bei 250 nm angeregt, ergeben sich zwei Dissoziationskanäle, wobei ein bekannter Kanal nach schneller interner Konversion in den Grundzustand Fragmente mit geringer Translationsenergie erzeugt. Der zweite Kanal zeigt anisotropes Verhalten und erzeugt Wasserstoffatome mit hoher Translationsenergie, die mehr als die Hälfte der Überschussenergie abführen. Die Erklärung dieses Prozesses erweist sich schwierig in Anbetracht von durchgeführten Isotopenmarkierungsexperimenten sowie der beobachteten Ratenkonstanten für die Photodissoziation. Eine Interaktion von Valenz- und Rydbergzuständen im Ethyl-Radikal könnte eine Erklärung darstellen. In Zukunft kann beim VMI-Experiment in Würzburg versucht werden, die Auflösung weiter zu verbessern. Dabei ergäben sich im Idealfall zwei scharfe Ringe der H-Atome durch die Spin-Bahn-Aufspaltung von Brom, welche eine sehr genaue Kalibrierung ermöglichen. Neben den Ergebnissen auf dem Gebiet der Photodissoziation, die mit der VMI-Apparatur erzielt wurden, konnten mittels Synchrotronstrahlung und Aufzeichnen der Photoelektronen mittels VMI und der TPEPICO-Technik die folgenden Ergebnisse erhalten werden: • Von Propargylen, einem von drei C3H2 Isomeren, konnte die adiabatische Ionisierungsenergie (IEad) mit 8.99 eV bestimmt werden. Der Vorläufer Diazopropin, eine sehr instabile Substanz, wurde dazu synthetisiert und mit Synchrotronlicht untersucht. Allerdings war es nicht möglich, die Schwingungen im Kation oder die dissoziative Photoionisation (DPI) des Carbens zu untersuchen, da Diazopropin seinerseits bereits bei Energien von 9 eV durch DPI zerfällt. Allerdings konnte ein Peak im TPES des zyklischen Isomers aus einer früheren Messung eindeutig dem Propargylen zugeordnet werden. Ein Ausweg die DPI zu umgehen stellt die Verwendung eines anderen Vorläufers dar. Beispielsweise wurde dazu Propargylchlorid getestet, welches aber nicht das Propargylen erzeugt, sondern das zyklische Isomer Cyclopropenyliden. Daneben können durch ein Doppel-Imaging Experiment, bei dem die Ionen genauso wie die Elektronen mit einem bildgebenden Detektor aufgezeichnet werden, Ionen mit kinetischer Energie aus DPI von Ionen aus der Ionisation ohne kinetischer Energie unterschieden werden. • Von den substituierten Methyl-Radikalen Brommethyl sowie Cyanomethyl konnte die IEad (8.62 bzw. 10.28 eV) und vom Brommethyl die DPI (AE0K = 13.95 eV) bestimmt werden. Daraus konnte der Einfluss der Substituenten auf die IEad im Vergleich zum Methyl-Radikal (IE = 9.84 eV) gezeigt werden. Das zeigt, dass der Brom-Substituent das Kation, der Cyano-Rest dagegen das Radikal stabilisiert. Ebenso konnten aus den Ergebnissen beim Brommethyl thermodynamische Daten wie die Standardbildungsenthalpie des Radikals (ΔH0f= 174.5 kJ/mol) oder Bindungsenergien gewonnen werden. Letztere betragen 334 kJ/mol für die C-Br Bindung im Brommethyl-Radikal sowie 505 kJ/mol im Kation. • Das Fulvenallen (C7H6) wurde aus Phthalid durch Pyrolyse erzeugt und dessen IEad mit 8.22 eV bestimmt. Schwingungen konnten im Kation aufgelöst und zugeordnet werden. Außerdem konnte erstmals die IEad des Fulvenallenyl-Radikals (C7H5) mit 8.19 eV festgelegt werden. Im Vergleich zu früheren Messungen zeigte sich, dass aus Toluol in der Pyrolyse ebenfalls die beiden C7H5/C7H6 Isomere entstehen. Um verschiedene C7H5/C7H6 Isomere in einem Verbrennungsprozess zu unterscheiden, wäre es vorteilhaft, experimentell bestimmte Ionisierungsenergien von anderen Isomeren zu kennen.