Linderman Library Rotunda stained glass dome

Elizabeth Young

Associate Professor

610.758.5753

ery317@lehigh.edu

Seeley G. Mudd, Room 597

Education:

B.S. Haverford College, 2002

Ph.D. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2009

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Research Areas

Additional Interests

Excited-state dynamics
Photochemistry
Solar Energy
Proton-coupled Electron Transfer
Molecular photochemistry

Research Statement

I am a photochemist who uses ultrafast and nanosecond laser spectroscopy to measure photophysics and photochemistry that occur on the picosecond (ps) to microsecond (μs) times scales in a wide range of chemistry. For example, Nature uses photochemistry that occurs on this time scale to carry out numerous functions critical to plant and human existence. The light-harvesting complex of photosynthesis starts the process by which plants convert sunlight into chemical energy, phytochromes are responsible for a plant’s ability to grow towards light, and light-sensitive rhodopsin enables human vision. Each of these processes is activated by light that leads to ultrafast chemical reactions. Rhodopsin, as an example, mediates dim light vision. When rhodopsin is exposed to light, its retinal cofactor isomerizes from the cis to trans configuration, and the protein undergoes a series of relaxations to accommodate the altered shape of the isomerized cofactor that results in our ability to see. The initial isomerization (0.2 ps) is followed by a series of reaction intermediates that have been mapped out using time-resolved spectroscopy to uncover the mechanism of vision.

At the center of my research efforts is transient absorption spectroscopy (TAS). TAS allows me to instantaneously (0.1 ps) initiate a chemical event and monitor (with sub-ps resolution) the progress of a reaction to identify the fates of photogenerated species. Research in my laboratory has quantified photoinduced charge-transfer dynamics and developed models for charge carrier mechanisms operative in thin films of light-absorbing materials used in solar cells; identified and controlled photoisomerization reactions of azo dyes known to convert photonic energy to potential energy, and developed reactions to degrade azo dye pollution released from the textile industry; uncovered new photophysical pathways in designer porphyrinoid moieties that can be used for a wide range of applications including photodynamic therapy; and designed excited-state proton-coupled electron transfer reactions in which the movement of both electrons and protons can lead to new reaction mechanisms and more facile reaction kinetics.

Biography

Prof. Young grew up in eastern Pennsylvania. She attended Haverford College as an undergraduate where she majored in Chemistry and minored in German, while also playing intercollegiate soccer and squash. As an undergraduate researcher, she worked in with Prof. Julio de Paula on porphyrin-peptide nano-wires – during which time her love of photochemistry and spectroscopy was ignited. After completing her undergraduate studies, she spent a year abroad in Germany as a participant in the Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange for Young Professionals. While in Germany, she learned about the German culture and language while working in the biophysical laboratory of Prof. Dr. Joachim Spatz at the University of Heidelberg. Upon returning to the U.S., she attended graduate school at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology earning a Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry. Her work in the laboratory of Prof. Daniel G. Nocera focused on photo-induced charge transfer coupled to proton motions in small-molecule donor-acceptor systems. She then spent two years as an NSF ACC-F post-doctoral fellow in the electrical engineering laboratory of Prof. Vladimir Bulovic at MIT learning about charge transfer in organic semiconductor devices.

Scholarship

For a current list of publications please see: https://wordpress.lehigh.edu/younglablehigh/publications/

Graduate^§ and undergraduate^† students, and postdocs^‡ co-authored advised (or mentored^⸙) by Young (bold) are denoted accordingly. The corresponding author is designated with an *.

Chen, A.H.; Knepp, Z.J.; Guzman, C.A.; Young, E.R.*; Fredin, L.A.*“Intramolecular subtleties in indole azo dyes revealed by multidimensional potential energy surfaces.” Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics 2025, 27, 6430– 6437. (https://doi.org/10.1039/D5CP00110B)

Knepp, Z.; Hamburger, R.C.^§; Thongchai, I.A.^†; Englehart, K.^†; Jaffer, A.^†; Sorto, K.^†; Jaffer, A.^†; Young, E.R.*; Fredin, L.A.* “Pinning Down Small Populations of Photoinduced Intermediates Using Transient Absorption Spectroscopy and Time-Dependent Density Functional Theory Difference Spectra to Provide Mechanistic Insight into Controlling Pyridine Azo Dynamics with Protons.” Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters. 2024, 15, 9593-9600. (https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpclett.4c02155)

Cossairt, B.M.; Dempsey, J.L.; Young, E.R.; Roberts. C.C. “The Chemistry Women Mentorship Network: Women helping women climb higher in chemistry.” Trends in Chemistry, 2024, 6, 427 – 423. (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trechm.2024.06.012)

Martin, S.M.^§; Hamburger, R.C.^§; Huang, T.^‡,.^§; Fredin, L.A*.; Young, E.R.* “Controlling Excited-State Dynamics via Protonation of Naphthalene-Based Azo Dyes.” Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics. 2024, 26, 10804-10813. (https://doi.org/10.1039/D4CP00242C)

Hamburger, R.C.^§; Rumble, C.*.; Young, E.R.* “An Introduction to Processing, Fitting, and Interpreting Transient Absorption Data.” Journal of Visualized Experiments (JoVE). 2024, 204, e65519. (https://doi.org/10.3791/65519)

Thongchai,I.-A.; Knepp,Z.; Fertal,D.^§; Flynn,H.^†; Young, E.R.*; Fredin, L.A.* “Acid Violet 3: A Base Activated Water-Soluble Photoswitch.” Journal of Physical Chemistry, A. 2024, 128, 785-791. (https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpca.3c07128)

Martin, S.M.^§; Knepp, Z.; Thongchai, I.A.^†; Englehart, K.^†; Jaffer, A.^†; Sorto, K.^†; Fredin, L.A.*; Young, E.R.* “The Doorstop Proton: Acid-controlled Photoisomerization in Pyridine-based Azo Dyes.” New Journal of Chemistry. 2023, 47, 11882-11889. https://doi.org/10.1039/D2CP04572A) ***NJC Outstanding Paper Award 2023***

Hamburger,R.C.^§; Huang, T.^‡; Martin, S.M.^§; Pointer, C.A.^§; Fredin, L.A.,^* Young, E.R.^*“Ultra-fast Excited-state Dynamics of Substituted trans-Naphthalene Azo Moieties.” Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics. 2023, 25, 15302 – 15313. (https://doi.org/10.1039/D2CP04572A)

Martin, S.M.^§; Repa, G.; Hamburger,R.C.^§; Pointer, C.A.^§; Ward, K.; Pham,T.-N.; Martin, M.I.; Rosenthal, R.;^* Fredin, L.A.,^* Young, E.R.^* “Elucidation of Complex Triplet Excited State Dynamics in Pd(II) Biladiene Tetrapyrroles.” Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics. 2023, 25, 2179 – 2189. (https://doi.org/10.1039/D2CP04572A)

Teaching

I teach courses in the general and physical chemistry divisions including general chemistry, thermodynamics, physical chemistry lab, and photochemistry.

Website

The Young Lab