Award Abstract # 2154787
The Role of Non-covalent Interactions in the Excited State Dynamics of Heterocyclic Compounds.

NSF Org: CHE
Division Of Chemistry
Recipient: UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SANTA BARBARA
Initial Amendment Date: March 29, 2022
Latest Amendment Date: March 29, 2022
Award Number: 2154787
Award Instrument: Standard Grant
Program Manager: Samy El-Shall
selshall@nsf.gov
 (703)292-7416
CHE
 Division Of Chemistry
MPS
 Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences
Start Date: July 1, 2022
End Date: June 30, 2026 (Estimated)
Total Intended Award Amount: $550,000.00
Total Awarded Amount to Date: $550,000.00
Funds Obligated to Date: FY 2022 = $550,000.00
History of Investigator:
  • Mattanjah de Vries (Principal Investigator)
    devries@chem.ucsb.edu
Recipient Sponsored Research Office: University of California-Santa Barbara
3227 CHEADLE HALL
SANTA BARBARA
CA  US  93106-0001
(805)893-4188
Sponsor Congressional District: 24
Primary Place of Performance: UCSB
Department of Chemistry and Bioc
Santa Barbara
CA  US  93106-9510
Primary Place of Performance
Congressional District:
24
Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): G9QBQDH39DF4
Parent UEI:
NSF Program(s): CSD-Chem Strcture and Dynamics
Primary Program Source: 01002223DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT
Program Reference Code(s): 8038
Program Element Code(s): 910100
Award Agency Code: 4900
Fund Agency Code: 4900
Assistance Listing Number(s): 47.049

ABSTRACT

In this project, funded by the Chemical Structure Dynamics and Mechanisms A (CSDM-A) program of the Chemistry Division, Professor de Vries at the University of California Santa Barbara will study how heterocyclic compounds respond to exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation. Such compounds form the basic structure of DNA bases as well as many other important molecules and their response to light plays a role in many practical processes. For example, the photochemistry following UV absorption constitutes a fundamental step in radiation-induced DNA damage. UV photo-selection may have played a key role in prebiotic chemistry on an early earth. These same processes also find applications in a variety of modern materials. These topics, in combination with cutting-edge laser and computational techniques, lend themselves to outreach activities that will be based on this work. Both undergraduate and graduate students will receive training in the design and construction of advanced experimental instrumentation, complex computer simulation, and conducting fundamental research. This work will be carried out in collaboration with scientists at Jackson State University, an HBCU. Professor De Vries and members of his group will serve as mentors in various programs aimed at broadening participation of members of underrepresented groups in STEM.

The precise effects of UV radiation depend critically on molecular structure and the fundamental photochemistry is affected by interactions with other molecules. The laboratory of Professor de Vries at UCSB will study fundamental photoproperties of heterocyclic compounds and clusters containing them experimentally by gas phase spectroscopy and collaborate with computational chemists to compare the results with quantum chemical modeling. The experiments will investigate how pi-stacking and hydrogen bonding affect the excited state potential energy landscape of heterocyclic compounds and how that changes the photochemical outcomes. The project will study these molecular systems in the picosecond and nanosecond time domains and model the results with high level quantum computations.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

PUBLICATIONS PRODUCED AS A RESULT OF THIS RESEARCH

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Cohen, Trevor and Didziulis, Julia and Smith, Charles and Rode, Michal F and Sobolewski, Andrzej L and Karapanagiotis, Ioannis and de_Vries, Mattanjah S "Exploring how molluscan purple has survived throughout the Ages: The excited state dynamics of 6,6-dibromoindigotin" Chemical Physics , v.581 , 2024 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemphys.2024.112271 Citation Details
Cohen, Trevor and Svadlenak, Nathan and Smith, Charles and Vo, Krystal and Lee, Si-Young and Parejo-Vidal, Ana and Kincaid, Joseph R. A. and Sobolewski, Andrzej L. and Rode, Michal F. and de Vries, Mattanjah S. "Excited-state dynamics of deuterated indigo" The European Physical Journal D , v.77 , 2023 https://doi.org/10.1140/epjd/s10053-023-00744-z Citation Details
Gate, Gregory and Williams, Ann and Boldissar, Samuel and poner, Jií and Szabla, Rafal and de_Vries, Mattanjah "The tautomerspecific excited state dynamics of 2,6diaminopurine using resonanceenhanced multiphoton ionization and quantum chemical calculations" Photochemistry and Photobiology , v.100 , 2024 https://doi.org/10.1111/php.13897 Citation Details

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