With support from the Chemistry Research Instrumentation and Facilities (CRIF) Program, the Department of Chemistry at Arizona State University will acquire an instrument for ultrafast fluorescence and multipulse transient absorbance. Research will focus on a) artificial photosynthesis, such as studies of biomimetic reaction centers coupled to artificial antenna systems; b) oxidative damage in DNA; c) redirecting electron transfer in photosynthetic reaction centers of purple nonsulfur bacteria; and d) ultrafast spectroscopic studies on photosynthetic pigments, antennas and reaction centers.
Transient absorption spectroscopy is an extremely versatile tool that can be used to probe fundamental photophysical and photochemical processes. These studies will have an impact in a number of areas, in particular biochemistry.
