Fast photodynamics of azobenzene probed by scanning excited-state potential energy surfaces using slow spectroscopy.

ABSTRACT: Azobenzene, a versatile and polymorphic molecule, has been extensively and successfully used for photoswitching applications. The debate over its photoisomerization mechanism leveraged on the computational scrutiny with ever-increasing levels of theory. However, the most resolved absorption spectrum for the transition to S1(nπ*) has not followed the computational advances and is more than half a century old. Here, using jet-cooled molecular beam and multiphoton ionization techniques we report the first high-resolution spectra of S1(nπ*) and S2(ππ*). The photophysical characterization reveals directly the structural changes upon excitation and the timescales of dynamical processes. For S1(nπ*), we find that changes in the hybridization of the nitrogen atoms are the driving force that trigge

SUBMITTER: Tan EM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4308720 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature