UC Berkeley

Vibrational spectroscopy is a powerful tool for structural characterization. Modern spectroscopy has been used ultrashort laser pulses in infrared region to monitor the structure evolution of species involving in chemical reaction. This spectroscopic technique can give dynamics of chemical reaction in ultrafast timescale, helping us understand the reaction mechanism in great detail. In this thesis, a wide range of ultrafast dynamics in solution triggered via photochemical reactions has been investigated: the photoisomerization mechanism of solar storage molecules (Fulvalene)tetracarbonyldiruthenium, the photo-inactive of analog molecules (Fulvalene)tetracarbonyldiiron, the spin state and reactivity of 14-electron species Fe(CO)3 and the heat transfer from various photochemical reaction to solvent. Finally, the dynamics of molecular rotational diffusion was also investigated to measure the effect of molecular mass on rotational motion of small solute in solution. The trends discovered from these prototypical complexes are expected to be applicable to other organometallics complexes. These results will have a great contribution to the ultrafast spectroscopy as well as the synthesis research community.