Ultrafast dynamics of molecules at solid-liquid interfaces are of outstanding importance in chemistry and physics due to their involvement in processes of heterogeneous catalysis. We present a new spectroscopic approach to resolve coherent, time-resolved, two-dimensional (2D) vibrational spectra as well as ultrafast vibrational relaxation dynamics of molecules adsorbed on metallic thin films in contact with liquids. The setup is based on the technique of Attenuated Total Reflectance (ATR) spectroscopy which is used at interfaces between materials that exhibit different refractive indices. As a sample molecule we consider carbon monoxide adsorbed in different binding configurations on different metals and resolve its femtosecond vibrational dynamics. It is presented that mid-infrared, multi-dimensional ATR spectroscopy allows for obtaining a surface-sensitive characterization of adsorbates' vibrational relaxation, spectral diffusion dynamics and simple inhomogeneity on the femtosecond timescale. ABSTRACTUltrafast dynamics of molecules at solid-liquid interfaces are of outstanding importance in

We present two-dimensional infrared (2D IR) spectra of organic monolayers immobilized on thin metallic films at the solid liquid interface. The experiments are acquired under Attenuated Total Reflectance (ATR) conditions which allow a surface-sensitive measurement of spectral diffusion, sample inhomogeneity, and vibrational relaxation of the monolayers. Terminal azide functional groups are used as local probes of the environment and structural dynamics of the samples. Specifically, we investigate the influence of different alkyl chain-lengths on the ultrafast dynamics of the monolayer, revealing a smaller initial inhomogeneity and faster spectral diffusion with increasing chain-length. Furthermore, by varying the environment (i.e., in different solvents or as bare sample), we conclude that the most significant contribution to spectral diffusion stems from intra-and intermolecular dynamics within the monolayer. The obtained results demonstrate that 2D ATR IR spectroscopy is a versatile tool for measuring interfacial dynamics of adsorbed molecules. We present two-dimensional infrared (2D IR) spectra of organic monolayers immobilized on thin metallic films at the solid liquid interface. The experiments are acquired under Attenuated Total Reflectance (ATR) conditions which allow a surface-sensitive measurement of spectral diffusion, sample inhomogeneity, and vibrational relaxation of the monolayers. Terminal azide functional groups are used as local probes of the environment and structural dynamics of the samples. Specifically, we investigate the influence of different alkyl chain-lengths on the ultrafast dynamics of the monolayer, revealing a smaller initial inhomogeneity and faster spectral diffusion with increasing chain-length. Furthermore, by varying the environment (i.e., in different solvents or as bare sample), we conclude that the most significant contribution to spectral diffusion stems from intra-and intermolecular dynamics within the monolayer. The obtained results demonstrate that 2D ATR IR spectroscopy is a versatile tool for measuring interfacial dynamics of adsorbed molecules. C 2015 AIP Publishing LLC. [http://dx

A new method is presented for the combination of spectro-electrochemistry and femtosecond 2D IR spectroscopy. The key concept is based on ultrathin (similar to nm) conductive layers of noble metals and indium-tin oxide (ITO) as working electrodes on a single-reflection attenuated total reflectance (ATR) element in conjunction with ultrafast, multidimensional ATR spectroscopy. The ATR geometry offers prominent benefits in ultrafast spectro-electrochemistry, that is, surface sensitivity for studying electrochemical processes directly at the solvent-electrode interface as well as the application of strongly IR-absorbing solvents such as water due to a very short effective path length of the evanescent wave at the interface. We present a balanced comparison between usable electrode materials regarding their performance in the ultrafast ATR setup. The electrochemical performance is demonstrated by vibrational Stark-shift spectroscopy of carbon monoxide (CO) adsorbed to platinum-coated, ultrathin ITO electrodes. We furthermore measure vibrational relaxation and spectral diffusion of the stretching mode from surfacebound CO dependent on the applied potential to the working electrode and find a negligible impact of the electrode potential on ultrafast CO dynamics.

Ultrafast two-dimensional infrared spectroscopy (2D IR) spectroscopy is performed in attenuated total reflectance (ATR) geometry with the Kretschmann configuration in order to measure femtosecond to picosecond dynamics of selfassembled monolayers on gold-coated solid-liquid interfaces. In the monolayers low-absorbing (<200 M-1 cm-1) nitrile functional groups are used as local vibrational probes to monitor vibrational relaxation and spectral diffusion in dependence of different environments of the nitrile group. By comparing spectral diffusion dynamics of the vibrational probe in bulk solution and in the monolayer we find that the dynamics are slowed down by more than a factor of 20 upon immobilization of the sample. Moreover, spectral diffusion dynamics are affected by the local environment within the monolayers as evidenced by 2D ATR IR experiments on mixed monolayers with different aliphatic and aromatic coadsorbates. The results are interpreted in terms of absent excitation energy-transfer as well as solvation dynamics around the nitrile vibrational probe. Our results demonstrate that 2D ATR IR spectroscopy offers the possibility to obtain ultrafast dynamics from sub-monolayer coverages of even low-absorbing vibrational probes such as nitrile functional groups. ABSTRACTUltrafast two-dimensional infrared spectroscopy (2D IR) spectroscopy is performed in attenuated total reflectance (ATR) geometry with the Kretschmann configuration in order to measure femtosecond to picosecond dynamics of selfassembled monolayers on gold-coated solid-liquid interfaces. In the monolayers low-absorbing (<200 M -1 cm -1 ) nitrile functional groups are used as local vibrational probes to monitor vibrational relaxation and spectral diffusion in dependence of different environments of the nitrile group. By comparing spectral diffusion dynamics of the vibrational probe in bulk solution and in the monolayer we find that the dynamics are slowed down by more than a factor of 20 upon immobilization of the sample. Moreover, spectral diffusion dynamics are affected by the local environment within the monolayers as evidenced by 2D ATR IR experiments on mixed monolayers with different aliphatic and aromatic coadsorbates. The results are interpreted in terms of absent excitation energy-transfer as well as solvation dynamics around the nitrile vibrational probe. Our results demonstrate that 2D ATR IR spectroscopy offers the possibility to obtain ultrafast dynamics from sub-monolayer coverages of even low-absorbing vibrational probes such as nitrile functional groups.

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