Recent Developments in the Dynamics of Fluorescently Labelled Macromolecules

There is considerable interest in the photophysics and photochemistry of water-soluble macromolecules functionalized as pendant or copolymerized on the macromolecular backbone itself. A promising feature of functionalized macromolecules is that a large variety of chemical modifications based on molecular design is possible as compared to conventional organized assemblies such as micelles and vesicles. Photoactive macromolecules have important applications in photoresists, xerography, photocuring of paints and resins, and solar energy conversion systems. These macromolecular systems are broadly classified into two categories: (1) in which chromophores are directly attached to the backbone of the macromolecule as a pendant and (2) in which the macromolecule acts as a host to the photosensitizing molecules. Various aspects of photochemical and photophysical processes in polymers are discussed earlier in detail. Time resolved fluorescence techniques have been extensively used to study the dynamics of natural and synthetic macromolecules. This book chapter covers the investigations on the dynamics polymers in solution using a variety of time resolved techniques ranging from a few femtoseconds to several seconds.

Keywords: Dynamics, Macromolecule, Photochemistry, Time Resolved, Timescale of motion.