Christopher Elles
- Professor
Contact Info
Lawrence
1567 Irving Hill Rd
Lawrence, KS 66045
Personal Links
Education —
Specialization
Professor Elles’ research expertise includes the following areas:
- Condensed-phase chemical reaction dynamics
- Excited-state dynamics of photoactive molecules and materials
- Ultrafast laser spectroscopy
- Two-photon absorption spectroscopy
- Time-resolved X-ray absorption spectroscopy
Research —
The primary focus of our work is to better understand the reaction dynamics of molecules in solution. We use ultrafast spectroscopy to monitor chemical reactions on the time scale of atomic motion and look for new ways to probe the dynamics in order to learn more about the fundamental physical processes that govern chemistry.
For example, we are interested in the excited state dynamics of "molecular photoswitches" that will be used in the next generation of data storage. Reversible opening and closing of a 6-member ring at the heart of these photochromic (color-changing) molecules enables them to store information based on the different absorption and refraction properties of each state. From a fundamental standpoint, these color changing reactions are fascinating because they involve dynamics on several different potential energy surfaces. Non-adiabatic transitions, vibrational relaxation, and solvent-solute interactions all play a role as the system moves along the reaction coordinate. We examine each of these, and try to exploit what we learn to control the outcome of the reaction.
Selected Publications —
~ Full list of publications on Google Scholar ~
C. J. Otolski, R. M. Lamb, W. C. Henke, L. B. Gee, D. R. Johnson, R. D. Ribson, T. Sato, S. Song, J. D. Blakemore, G. Doumy, A. M. March, J. E. Penner-Hahn, C. G. Elles, and R. J. Sension, Ultrafast Relaxation of MLCT Excited States in Manganese Tricarbonyl Complexes: Insights from Polarization-Resolved Femtosecond X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy at the Mn and Br K-Edges, Journal of the American Chemical Society, 148, 8190 (2026). https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.5c17002
H. Chuang, B. K. Kundu, R. Chen, Pragti, P. Srivastava, C. G. Elles, and Y. Sun, Near-Infrared Light-Driven Condensation Using Branched Two- Photon-Absorbing Organic Photocatalysts with Viscosity- Dependent Properties, Journal of the American Chemical Society, 147, 20525 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.5c02797
E. R. Lorenzo, B. Karki, K. E. White, K. H. Burns, and C. G. Elles, Tunable FSRS Measurements with Reduced Background Signals: Using a Low-Finesse Etalon Filter to Generate Picosecond Pump Pulses in the 460-650 nm Range, Journal of Chemical Physics, 161, 22420 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0237444
P. Srivastava, D. A. Stierwalt, and C. G. Elles, Broadband two-photon absorption spectroscopy with stimulated Raman scattering as an internal standard, Analytical Chemistry, 95, 13227 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.analchem.3c02298
K. H. Burns, T. J. Quincy, and C. G. Elles, Excited-state resonance Raman spectroscopy probes the sequential two-photon excitation mechanism of a photochromic molecular switch, Journal of Chemical Physics, 157, 234302 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0126974
C. J. Otolski, A. Mohan Raj, V. Ramamurthy, and C. G. Elles, Spatial confinement alters the ultrafast photoisomerization dynamics of azobenzenes, Chemical Science, 11, 9513 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1039/D0SC03955A
M. S. Barclay, M. Caricato, and C. G. Elles, Femtosecond stimulated Raman scattering from triplet electronic states: Experimental and theoretical study of resonance enhancements, Journal of Physical Chemistry A, 123, 7720 (2019). https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.jpca.9b05955
T. J. Quincy, M. S. Barclay, M. Caricato, and C. G. Elles, Probing dynamics in higher-lying electronic states with resonance-enhanced femtosecond stimulated Raman spectroscopy, Journal of Physical Chemistry A, 122, 8308 (2018). https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.jpca.8b07855
A. L. Houk, R. S. Givens, and C. G. Elles, Two-photon activation of p-hydroxyphenacyl phototriggers: Toward spatially controlled release of diethyl phosphate and ATP, Journal of Physical Chemistry B, 120, 3178 (2016). http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.jpcb.5b12150
C. L. Ward and C. G. Elles, Controlling the excited-state reaction dynamics of a photochromic molecular switch with sequential two-photon excitation, Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters, 3, 2995 (2012). http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/jz301330z
Awards & Honors —
NSF CAREER Award, 2012 - 2017
J. Michael Young Academic Advisor Award, 2016
Visiting Professorship, University of Rome "La Sapienza”, 2012