Femtochemistry in nanocavities: dissociation, recombination and vibrational cooling of iodine in cyclodextrin

We report studies of the femtosecond dynamics of reactions in confined nanocavities in water solutions. In an earlier publication [J. Phys. Chem. A 102 (1998) 1657] we reported studies of proton transfer and isomerization in these media. Here, we examine the elementary processes of dissociation, recombination and vibrational relaxation of the guest iodine molecule encapsulated into the cavity of cyclodextrin (diameter ∼8 Å). For comparison, the relaxation dynamics of the same guest in tetrahydrofuran and in pure water were also studied.