Ultrafast solvation dynamics of an ion in a restricted environment

Abstract

The solvation dynamics of an excited coumarin dye molecule (C-480) enclosed within a restricted space have been studied using molecular hydrodynamic theory (MHT) and compared with the recent experimental findings. The solvation dynamics of the dye molecule within the cavity of a toroidal γ-cyclodextrin molecule have been shown to be explained only in terms of the freezing of the solvent translational modes using MHT. The results of the theoretical calculation are in good agreement with the experimental results. The inertial components of the solvation time correlation function remain the same in both the restricted environment and in the free space. These results are interesting in the light of the simulation studies of Maroncelli and Fleming <i>[J chem Phys, </i> 89 (1988) 5044] which concludes that the participation of the different solvation shells in controlling the dynamics are much different. The earlier studies have been reviewed and the recent findings are discussed.