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Science 20 July 2001:
Vol. 293. no. 5529, pp. 462 - 465
DOI: 10.1126/science.1061612
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Reports

Optical Control of Electrons During Electron Transfer

Ignacio B. Martini, Erik R. Barthel, Benjamin J. Schwartz*

The dynamics of electron transfer reactions in solution can be controlled with the use of a sequence of femtosecond laser pulses. In the charge transfer to solvent (CTTS) reaction of sodide (Na-) in tetrahydrofuran, an initial light pulse launched the CTTS reaction, ejecting an electron into either an immediate or a solvent-separated Na0:solvated electron contact pair. A second pulse was used to excite the electrons in the contact pairs, and a third pulse monitored the amount of Na- produced through the back electron transfer. Excitation of the electrons in immediate contact pairs shut off the back electron transfer, whereas excitation of the electrons in solvent-separated pairs both enhanced and hindered the back electron transfer.

Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1569, USA.
*   To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: schwartz{at}chem.ucla.edu

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THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Linear Response Breakdown in Solvation Dynamics Induced by Atomic Electron-Transfer Reactions.
A. E. Bragg, M. C. Cavanagh, and B. J. Schwartz (2008)
Science 321, 1817-1822
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