Dynamic structural effects and ultrafast biomolecular kinetics in photoinduced charge transfer reactions. Progress report, September 15, 1990--March 14, 1992

During the first budget significant progress was made in three areas: (1) assessment of dynamic structural effects accompanying charge transfer, (2) electrochemical assessment of site-to-site electronic coupling in simple inorganic systems, and (3) direct observation of intramolecular electron transfer kinetics in mixed-valence systems. In area 1 the most significant finding was that Franck-Condon parameters for electron transfer (i.e. normal coordinate displacements, vibrational frequencies, and single-mode vibrational reorganizational energy components) could be obtained for weakly interacting (ion-paired) redox systems (J.Phys.Chem., 1991, 95, 10535). Studies in area 3 have yielded results in both the ultrafast (femtosecond/picosecond) time regime (J.Phys.Chem. 1991, 95, 5712) and the intermediate (microsecond/millisecond) time regime (J.Am.Chem. Soc., submitted).