Exploring and Exploiting Photoacids to Reveal Ultrafast Hydrogen Bond and Proton Transfer Dynamics in Solution: How to Move from the Mid-IR to the Soft-X-Ray Regime

Elementary steps of proton transfer between acids and bases occur on ultrafast time scales. To elucidate the microscopic mechanisms of proton transfer many research groups have applied time-resolved spectroscopy utilizing a class of organic molecules called photoacids. In this talk I will provide an overview of results obtained by my research team on photoacid molecules with ultrafast infrared spectroscopy as a local probing technique. Whereas profound insight in aqueous proton transfer pathways in acid-base neutralization have been achieved in recent years, the underlying reasons for photoacidity have remained unsolved. Recent developments will be discussed how to tackle this unsolved question using the technique of soft-x-ray spectroscopy as an alternative local probe. For this liquid flatjet technology appears to be a highly promisingmethodological approach.