Dominant research topics:

 

• investigations of structure and reactivity of molecules in electronically excited states
• proton and electron transfer
• hydrogen-bond-induced phenomena
• astrochemistry
• single molecule spectroscopy
• plasmonics
• electrochemiluminescence
• synthesis and supramolecular chemistry
• application and development of new spectroscopic techniques with high spectral, spatial, or temporal resolution

 

The achievements of the Department in recent years include:

  

• Elucidation of mechanisms of tautomerism in porphycenes

• Observation of various ground and excited state phenomena induced by hydrogen bonds

•  Bioanalytical applications of Raman/SERS spectroscopy

• Supersonic jet studies of structure, stoichiometry, photophysics, and photochemistry of water and alcohol complexes

• Detection and elucidation of processes of phototautomerism and photochromism in ß-thioxoketones and Schiff bases

• Discovery of many new systems which exhibit photoinduced single or double proton transfer

• Observation of mode-specificity in tautomerization and  proton tunneling

• Elucidation of factors governing electrochemiluminescence (ECL) and the quest for systems characterised by particularly high ECL efficiency

• Studies on spectroscopy, structure, and reactivity of astrophysically significant molecules

• Development of techniques based on polarized light

• Design and construction of instruments for ultrafast spectroscopy

• Development of single molecule spectroscopy and microscopy techniques

• Modeling of the structure of microenvironment

• Efficient syntheses of porphycenes

• Syntheses of new luminophores