We’re delighted to introduce our closed cross-journal collection, “Ultrafast Chemistry”, featuring research published across Communications Chemistry, Nature Communications and Scientific Reports. This curated set of articles brings together cutting-edge research that explores chemical processes on the timescales of atomic and molecular motion. This collection highlights the latest advances in ultrafast chemistry, including, but not limited to, the investigation of proton and charge transfer reactions, recombination reactions, ultrafast isomerization, photo-initiated chemical processes, and relaxation dynamics in the gas-, liquid- and solid-phase and at interfaces.
Editor’s Picks: Highlights from the Collection
To celebrate the completion of this collection, we have selected three articles that exemplify the diverse research themes and innovative approaches featured throughout.
Hydrated electrons are expected to exhibit diverse structural motifs, however, the full framework of hydrated electron isomers remains underexplored. Here, the authors use photoelectron and electronic absorption spectroscopies to reexamine hydrated electron motifs in water cluster anions, reporting motif-dependent relaxation dynamics, with certain surface-bound species undergoing more efficient excited-state autodetachment than others.
The oxidation of phenolic compounds is one of the most important reactions prevalent in various biological processes, but quantitative descriptions and molecular-level understanding of these proton-coupled electron transfer (PCET) reactions have been challenging. Here, the authors use photodetachment photoelectron spectroscopy to directly observe PCET in hydrogen-bonded phenolic nitrate complexes, in which a much slower rising edge provides a spectroscopic signature to evidence PCET.
Real-time tracking of energy flow in cluster formation
Probing the photoinduced formation of chemical bonds in aggregates is challenging due to difficulties in reactant preparation under well-defined conditions. Here, the authors use helium droplets to stabilize Mg atoms in a foam-like configuration and track cluster formation using femtosecond time-resolved spectroscopy.
Explore the Collection
These featured papers represent only a small selection of the exciting research included in the collection. We invite you to explore the complete Ultrafast Chemistry collection and discover the latest advances in our understanding of molecular processes occurring on nature’s fastest timescales:
Collection link: https://www.nature.com/collections/egefhbgeba
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank all authors, reviewers, and editors whose contributions made this collection possible. Their work continues to advance our understanding of ultrafast molecular phenomena and the fundamental mechanisms that govern chemical change.
We hope you enjoy exploring the collection and encourage you to share it with colleagues and researchers interested in the frontiers of chemical dynamics.
For more exciting calls for papers of the participating journals, visit:
https://www.nature.com/commschem/calls-for-papers