TIME-RESOLVED RESONANCE RAMAN OF PHOTOTRANSIENTS

Author Institution: Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of CaliforniaIn the absence of time-resolved structural studies with x-ray techniques on the short time scale at the moment, time-resolved vibrational spectroscopy becomes one of the most effective tools used to understand the mechanisms of physical and chemical changes. Due to large resonance Raman enhancements, high laser photon flux and short laser pulses, the Raman (vibration) spectra, and thus the inferred molecular structures, of short-lived transtents are now determined in the subpicosecond to the second time scale. This led to a more accurate description of the mechanisms involved in a number of photochemical, photophysical and photobiological processes. Some of the time-resolved resonance Raman techniques developed in our as well as in other laboratories using both c.w. and pulsed lasers will first be described. A few examples of the kinds of problems that have been studied with time-resolved resonance Raman techniques will then be discussed