Balakrishnan, G.; Soldatova, A. V.; Reid, P. J.; Spiro, T. G. Ultrafast charge transfer in nickel phthalocyanine probed by femtosecond Raman-Induced Kerr Effect Spectroscopy. Journal of the American Chemical Society 2014, 136 (24), 8746–8754. http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/ja503541v
Transition metal complex catalysts utilize excited states in which charge is transferred from ligand to metal or vice versa. However, the lifetime of these states can be very short because of deactivation by metal-centered states. We have studied this critical process using femtosecond stimulated Raman spectroscopy, which is capable of monitoring ultrafast structure changes. The results point to ways in which their lifetimes can be lengthened via molecular engineering.