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Updated: Oct 19, 2025

Ultrafast Time-resolved Near-IR Stimulated Raman Measurements of Functional π-conjugate Systems
Published on: February 10, 2020
Inducing molecular reactions by selective vibrational excitation of a remote antenna with near-infrared light
Cláudio M Nunes1, Nelson A M Pereira1, Luís P Viegas1
1University of Coimbra, CQC, Department of Chemistry, 3004-535 Coimbra, Portugal. cmnunes@qui.uc.pt.
Abstract:
We demonstrate here that selective vibrational excitation of a moiety, remotely attached in relation to the molecular reaction site, might offer a generalized strategy for inducing bond-breaking/bond-forming reactions with exquisite precision. As a proof-of-principle, the electrocyclic ring-expansion of a benzazirine to a ketenimine was induced, in a cryogenic matrix, by near-IR light tuned at the overtone stretching frequency of its OH remote antenna. This accomplishment paves the way for harnessing IR vibrational excitation as a tool to guide a variety of molecular structure manipulations in an exceptional highly-selective manner.
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