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October 2011: publication in Chemical Communication on boosting up Vibrational Circular Dichroism signals
For some time now we are using Vibrational Circular Dichroism (VCD) to study molecular stereochemistry and conformational structure. VCD is very powerful tool but generally suffers from small signal intensities that impede application of the technique as a standard analytical tool. Strategies to enhance VCD signals are therefore of substantial importance. In this Communication we show that we can obtain an order of magnitude enhancement by carefully modulating the electronically excited-state manifold. The article has received quite some attention, not in the least because it was given ample publicity on the back cover of the issue of Chemical Communications in which it appeared!
Article
Back cover issue
September 2011: Opening symposium Institute Quantivision
September 21 marked the official opening of Institute Quantivision, a collaboration between the VUmc, AMC,NKI/AVL, VU, UvA and companies to develop medical imaging devices, software and protocols to enhance the efficiency, efficacy and economy of healthcare. Prof. dr Wybren Jan Buma is one of the members of the Management Team. This Institute has originated from a ZONmw initiative, called Innovative Medical Devices Innitiative to establish regional Centres of Research Excellence, where healthcare, business and science collaborate on the development of newmedical devices that enable future health care at high standards, in an aging population with decreasing numbers of working forces. We are very excited to be part of this Institute and are looking forward to bring inour Molecular Photonics expertise.
Quantivision
IMDI
Pressrelease UvA
Article in De Volkskrant
Signing ceremony
July and September 2011: Molecular Photonics for Health
One of the more applied areas the Molecular Photonics group has started to work in, is the area of Medical Photonics. Presently, we have a large portfolio of joint projects with various University Medical Centers that started with the, by now long-standing, fruitful collaboration with the Biomedical Engineering and Physics group at the Amsterdam Medical Center (AMC). Two typical examples are included here; one which concerns a study on new methods for age determination of blood stains that was published in PLos ONE, and one which focusses on the development of new upconversion nanoparticles for applications like photodynamic therapy that was published in the Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters
PLoS ONE article
Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters article
May 2011: ECHO grants for molecular machines in the gas phase
The Molecular Photonics group has been very succesful in the 2010-2011 ECHO round of the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO). Both Sander Woutersen and Wybren Jan Buma were awarded ECHO grants for research on molecular machines. ECHO grants are €260,000 project grants designated for Excellent CHemical Research projects. ECHO grants are designed to facilitate high-quality research projects rooted in intellectual curiosity. This will allow for the development of audacious ideas, and help lay the groundwork for the research themes of the future and/or scientific innovation.
NWO-CW
UvA announcement
FOM Expres
December 2010: Article in Nature Nanotechnology on photoluminescence from silicon nanocrystals
In a very nice and fruitful collaboration with the groupof Tom Gregorkiewicz (WZI, UvA) silicon nanocrystals have been studied. The resulting article "Red spectral shift and enhanced quantum efficiency in phonon-free photoluminescence from silicon nanocrystals" has been published in Nature Nanotechnology 5, 878-884 (2010). The article has been highlighted in the News and Views section of the issue.
Article
News and Views
FOM
University of Amsterdam
Energieraad
Engineeringnet
September 2010: Article in the Journal of the American Chemical Society onthe development of a novel method to obtain IR spectra of molecular ions with ultra-sensitive detection
The continuing collaboration with the group of Dr. Marcel Drabbels at the EPFL has led to an article entitled "IR spectroscopy of molecular ions by nonthermal ion ejection from helium nanodroplets" which has been published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society 132, 14086-14091 (2010) as a regular article. We report experiments that have enabled the detection ofIR absorption in cold molecular ions with a sensitivity that is at least two orders of magnitude better than what was possible up tillnow. The experiments are the first of its kind in which helium nanodroplets areapplied to obtain vibrational spectra of molecular ions.The results hold great promise for the future as was recognized by Chemistry World which highlighted this publication!
Article
Chemistry World
June 2010: Article in Science on the operation mechanism of molecular machines
Our article "Operation Mechanism of a Molecular Machine Revealed Using Time-Resolved Vibrational Spectroscopy" has been published in Science 328, 1255-1258 (2010). In this article we look at the mechanical behavior of molecular-level machines using vibrational transitions as probes for determining how the parts of the machines move with respect to each other. More detailed information can be found in the link indicated below
Detailed information
Article
FOM
University of Amsterdam
NRC
May 2010: Article in Angewandt Chemie on releasing a molecular brake
Our Communication "Controlled hydrogen-bond breaking ina rotaxane by discrete solvation" has been published in Angewandte Chemie Int. Ed. 49, 3896-3900 (2010). It has been selected as one of the highlights with an artful frontispiece made by one of the authors, Dr. Nadja Saendig. This article, in which we show how to release the macrocycle from the thread by solvating a rotaxane with one solvent molecule at a time, has attracted quite some attention. Look at the YouTube link to see a movie of what is happening!
Issue 49/23
Article
Chemisch Weekblad
FOM
University of Amsterdam
FOM Rijnhuizen
Nieuws.be
Engineers online
Kennislink
Viavio
Chemistry World Blog
Aandrijftechniek
Webelements
YouTube
Tech2Day
Regator
April 2010: Communication in Journal of the American Chemical Society on unveiling the spectroscopicproperties of para-coumaric acid
In our Communication "High-resolution excitationand absoption spectroscopy of gas-phase p-coumaric acid: unveiling an elusive chromophore" in the Journal of the American Chemical Society 132, 6315-6317 (2010) we report on high-resolution spectroscopic studies of isolated para-coumaric acid (pCA). Since this molecule is the chromophore of the Photoactice Yellow Protein (PYP), many studies have - unsuccessfully - pursued the characterization ofitselectronically excited-state manifold under isolated-molecule conditions. Using a multicolor resonance-enhanced multiphoton ionization approach under molecularbeam and helium nanodroplet conditions, we show how pCA has become accessible to high-resolution studies of its conformational and electronicallyexcited states dynamics. Another nice aspect is the participation of two undergraduate students. Good publicity for Chemistry indeed!
Article
Chemistry and Engineering News
Scholierensite
August 2009: Communication in Journal of the American Chemical Society on nanomachine components in helium nanodroplets
A new collaboration has been set up with Dr.Marcel Drabbels (EPFL) in the field ofhelium nanodroplet spectroscopy. The Communication "Conformational flexibilityof a rotaxane thread probed by electronic spectroscopy in helium nanodroplets" in the Journal of the American Chemical Society 131, 12902-12910 (2009) reports our first succesful studies in this field. We show how dissolving single rotaxane threadsinto a helium nanodroplet enables us to resolve the broad absorption spectrum observed under molecular beam conditions into the separate contributions of individual conformers populated under the employed experimental conditions. This is a big step forwards as it allows us to study the properties of each single conformer instead of a property averaged over many conformers.
Article
February 2009: Communication in Journal of the American Chemical Society on IR spectrosocopy on isolated [2]rotaxanes
Our Communication "Stiff, and sticky in the right places: binding interactions in isolated mechanically interlocked molecules probed by mid-infraredspectroscopy" has been published in the Journal of the American ChemicalSociety 131, 2428-2429 (2009). In a very nice collaboration with FOM Rijnhuizen which gave us access to the unrivaled IR laser radiation possibilities that FELIX offers, we show how we have brought multi-component systems - and with that many other molecular systems that many previously thought to be out of the question - within reach of high-resolution IR spectroscopic techniques.
Article
FOM Rijnhuizen press release
Press release FOM
Press release UvA
Kennislink
Tweakers net
NWO
NVIDIA
Aandrijvenenbesturen
Engineering Net Belgie
NeoWeb
January 2009: Articlein Proceedings of the National Academy of Scienceson the molecular analog of Young's double slit experiment
Together with Robert W. Field (MIT) we have investigated the famous case of InterSystem Crossing (ISC) in acetylene. Employing an experimentally challenging approach based on 2D excited-state photoelectron spectrocopy, we have been able to determine the composition of coupled singlet and triplet wavefunctions. Remarkably, we find interferences between singlet-triplet coupling pathways. This observation opens up exciting possibilities for external control schemes over nonradiative decaypathways. The results have been published as "Interference in acetylene intersystem crossing acts as the molecular analog of Young's double slit experiment" in the Proceedings of theNational Academy of Sciences of the United Statesof America 106, 2510-2514 (2009).
Article
Press release FOM
Press release UvA (Dutch)
Pressrelease UvA (English)
Regiovizier
28 October 2008: Experiment NL
EXPERIMENT NL (NWO research projects for the general public) is the third book in the series "Science in The Netherlands". In 14 chapters more than 100 remarkable research projects are presented as the best that Science in The Netherlands offers.In Carpet of Nanomachines our work on rotaxanes is discussed.
NWO announcement
July 2008: ArticleinAngewandte Chemie on "Proton transfer with a twist"
In a fruitful collaboration with synthetic, physical-organic, andmolecular spectroscopy groups we have shown that photoinduced proton transfer in 7-(2'-pyridyl)-indole is accompanied by mutual twisting of the pyridyl and indole moieties. The resultssuggest that this phenomenon is quite general for several classes of organic molecules with intramolecular hydrogen bonds. The results have been published as the communication"Protontransfer with a twist? Femtosecond dynamics of 7-(2-pyridyl)indole in condensed phase and in supersonic jets" in Angewandte Chemie Int. Ed. 47(32),6037-6040 (2008).
Article
April 2008: Article in Angewandte Chemie on 'molding' a molecule
Our Communication "Shaping of a conformationally flexible molecular structure for spectroscopy" has been published in Angewandte Chemie Int. Ed. 47(17), 3174-3179 (2008). It has been selected as one of the highlights, and been published with a very nice frontispiece made by one of the authors, Dr. Anouk Rijs. For highlights ofthis paper, see for example "Moleculaire mal dwingt grote moleculen in vorm" by Margriet van derHeijden in NRC Handelsblad,April 12, 2008, and the links given below.
Issue Angewandte Chemie 47/17
Article
Pressrelease UvA
Press release FOM
Chemisch Weekblad C2W: Moleculaire dwangbuis
Kennislink.nl: Moleculenin de houdgreep
March 2008: Descartes Prize
March 12, 2008 we received in Brussels the Descartes Prize for Transnational Collaborative Research as member of the SynNanoMotor consortium for"developing the first functional examples of syntheticmotors on a molecular scale and many other useful and innovative nanomachines". This has generated a lot of positive publicity, a few examples of which are given below.
ECpress release (notice the wrong date ...)
Press release University ofAmsterdam
Pressrelease FOM
Press release CORDIS
Interview Wetenschapscafe Hoe?Zo!
Kennislink: Descartes-prijs 2007 voor moleculaire motoren en nanomachines
Volkskrant:Descartes-prijsvoor Nederlandse nanomachinesen ijsboorders
Aandrijven en besturen
February 2008: Study group Spectroscopy and Theory of NWO-CW
At the annual meeting of the Study group Spectroscopy and Theory of NWO-CW (Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research- Chemical Sciences) Prof. Silvia Volker has retired as chairwoman of the Board, and has been succeeded by Prof.Wybren Jan Buma
CW Studiegroepen
January 2008: Holland Research School of Molecular Chemistry
As of January 1, 2008 Prof. Kees Elsevier has resigned as Scientific Director of the Holland Research School of Molecular Chemistry (HRSMC), and Prof. Wybren Jan Buma has been appointed as his successor. Kees has done a wonderful job last years and has guided us through the reaccreditation. I'll do my best to live up to his performance!
Holland ResearchSchool of Molecular Chemistry