• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.25 no.12
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• pp.1829-1832
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• 2004

We have developed a new femtosecond probe technique by using stimulated Raman spectroscopy. The cross phase modulation in femtosecond time scale associated with off-resonant interaction was shown to be eliminated by integrating the transient gain/loss signal over the time delay between the Raman pump pulse and the continuum pulse. The stimulated Raman gain of neat cyclohexane was obtained to demonstrate the feasibility of the technique. Spectral and temporal widths of stimulated Raman spectra were controlled by using a narrow band pass filter. Femtosecond stimulated Raman spectroscopy was proposed as a highly useful probe in time-resolved vibrational spectroscopy.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.758-764
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• 2014

Femtosecond vibrational spectroscopy was used to measure the vibrational population relaxation time ($T_1$) of different anions bound to ferric myoglobin ($Mb^{III}$) and hemoglobin ($Hb_{III}$) in $D_2O$ at 293 K. The $T_1$ values of the anti-symmetric stretching (${\nu}_1$) mode of NCS in the $NCS^-$ bound to $Mb^{III}$ ($Mb^{III}$NCS) and $Hb_{III}$ ($Hb_{III}$NCS) in $D_2O$ are $7.2{\pm}0.2$ and $6.6{\pm}0.2$ ps, respectively, which are smaller than that of free NCS. in $D_2O$ (18.3 ps). The $T_1$ values of the ${\nu}_1$ mode of NCO in the $NCO^-$ bound to $Mb^{III}$ ($Mb^{III}$NCO) and $Hb_{III}$ ($Hb_{III}$NCO) in $D_2O$ are $2.4{\pm}0.2$ and $2.6{\pm}0.2$ ps, respectively, which are larger than that of free $NCO^-$ in $D_2O$ ($1.9{\pm}0.2$ ps). The smaller $T_1$ values of the ${\nu}_1$ mode of the heme-bound NCS suggest that intramolecular vibrational relaxation (VR) is the dominant relaxation pathway for the excess vibrational energy. On the other hand, the longer $T_1$ values of the ${\nu}_1$ mode of the heme-bound NCO suggest that intermolecular VR is the dominant relaxation pathway for the excess vibrational energy in the ${\nu}_1$ mode of $NCO^-$ in $D_2O$, and that intramolecular VR becomes more important in the vibrational energy dissipation of the ${\nu}_1$ mode of NCO in $Mb^{III}$NCO and $Hb_{III}$NCO.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.31 no.12
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• pp.3771-3776
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• 2010

The dynamics of the $CN^-$-ligated ferric cytochrome c (CytcCN) in $D_2O$ at 283 K following Q-band photoexcitation at 575 nm was observed using femtosecond time-resolved vibrational spectroscopy. The equilibrium vibrational spectrum of the CN stretching mode of CytcCN shows two overlapping bands: one main band (82%) at $2122\;cm^{-1}$ with $23\;cm^{-1}$ full width at half maximum (fwhm) and the other band (18%) at $2116\;cm^{-1}$ with $7\;cm^{-1}$ fwhm. The time-resolved spectra show bleaching of the CN fundamental mode of CytcCN and two absorption features at lower energies. The bleach signal and both absorption features are all formed within the time resolution of the experiment (< 200 fs) and decay with a life time of 1.9 ps. One transient absorption feature, appearing immediately red to the bleach signal, results from the thermal excitation of low-frequency modes of the heme that anharmonically couple to the CN fundamental mode, thereby shifting the CN mode to lower energies. The shift of the CN mode decays with a lifetime of 2 ps, equivalent to the time scale for vibrational cooling of the low-frequency heme modes. The other transient absorption feature, which is 3.3 times weaker than the bleach signal and shifted $27\;cm^{-1}$ toward lower energies, is attributed to the CN mode in an electronically excited state where the CN bond is weakened with a lowered extinction coefficient. These observations suggest that photoexcited CytcCN mainly undergoes ultrafast radiationless relaxation, causing photo-deligation of $CN^-$ from CytcCN highly inefficient. As also observed in $CN^-$-ligated myoglobin, inefficient ligand photodissociation might be a general property of $CN^-$-ligated ferric hemes.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.913-916
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• 2009

Femtosecond vibrational spectroscopy was used to probe the dynamics of CO rebinding to hemoglobin (Hb), denatured by 4.0 M GdnHCl in $D_2O# at 283 K, after photolysis of HbCO. The stretching mode of $^{13}CO$ bound to the denatured $Hb^{13}CO$ showed a single band centered at 1922 $cm^{-1}$, indistinguishable from that of denatured $Mb^{13}CO$. Geminate rebinding of CO to the denatured Hb was accelerated more than 1000 times, suggesting that the native structure of the Hb is required to suppress efficient geminate rebinding of CO, as is the case in Mb. The geminate yield and rate for CO rebinding are almost the same in both the denatured Hb and Mb. Similarity in the equilibrium spectrum and rebinding dynamics of CO indicates that the state of the denatured Hb is very similar to that of the denatured Mb. In the denatured Hb, quaternary contact of the protein is likely severed, with the denatured protein existing as an independent subunit much like Mb.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.177-182
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• 2009

We present the geminate rebinding kinetics measurements of CO to 2-methylimidazole (2-MeIm) bound ferrous protoporphyrin- IX (FePPIX) in alkaline glycerol/water mixtures at 293 K after photolysis. The kinetics was probed by monitoring the CO stretching mode using femtosecond vibrational spectroscopy. When 2-MeIm is used in excess, heme dimers that typically form in low viscosity solutions disappear as the viscosity of the solvent increases. Heme aggregates formed in low viscosity solutions turn monomeric as more 2-MeIm is added, suggesting that 6-coordinated heme, including a strong proximal histidine tends to be in the monomeric form. The vibrational band of CO in the 2-MeIM-FePPIX-CO is well described by a single Gaussian function centered at 1958 $cm^-1$ and 28 $cm^-1$ full width at half maximum. The efficiency and rate of the geminate rebinding of CO to the heme increase with viscosity of the solvent, suggesting that retention of the dissociated CO near the heme, for a longer period by the viscous solvent media, accelerates rebinding.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.24 no.11
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• pp.1675-1679
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• 2003

The photodynamics of excited-state intramolecular proton transfer reaction of 1-hydroxyanthraquinone (1-HAQ) and 1-deuterioanthraquinone was investigated in toluene with time-resolved emission and femtosecond transient transmittance techniques at room temperature. The temporal profiles of transient transmittance of 1-HAQ could be well described with multi-decaying time constants. The ultrafast time constant within ca. 260 fs reflects the dynamics of proton transfer. The decay component of 2 ps is assigned to an additional proton translocation process induced by the intramolecular vibrational relaxation, whereas the decay component of 18 ps is assigned to the vibrational cooling process, while the long component (200 ps) can be explained in terms of the relaxation from excited-state keto-tautomer to its ground state. Time-resolved anisotropy decay dynamics and isotope effects on the photodynamics reveals that the ESIPT from enol-tautomer to keto-one of 1-HAQ is barrierless reaction and coupled to a vibrational relaxation process.

• Journal of Photoscience
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.122-125
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• 2002

Coherent oscillations in is fluorescence dynamics of W.-t. PYP and its site-directed mutants have been observed. Two oscillatory modes coupled with the ultrafast fluorescence due to the twisting of the excited chromophore were identified, a high ftequency mode (∼135 cm$\^$-1/) with ∼550 is damping time and a low frequency overdamped mode (-45 cm$\^$-1/) with ∼250 is damping time, respectively. Both modes disappear in the fluorescence dynamics of denatured PYP emphasizing the important role of the protein nanospace as the environment for photoreaction. The qualitative picture of fluorescence dynamics in site-directed mutants was rather similar to that in W.-t. PYP, i.e., similar oscillatory modes (∼130-140 cm$\^$-1/ and ∼40-70 cm$\^$-1/) have been observed. This indicates that the vibrational modes and electron-vibration couplings do not change dramatically due to the mutation though the damping time of low frequency mode a little decreases as the protein nanospace structure becomes looser and more disordered by mutation. On the other hand, in the case of some PYP analogues, the qualitative picture of fluorescence dynamics changes, showing the familiar picture of solvation effect whereas the oscillations are almost damped. Comparative analyses of these observations are presented.