The third biannual Frontiers in Photochemistry (FIP) Conference brought together attendees from around the world who discussed a wide range of exciting current topics in photochemistry, including the solar fuels, phototherapy, upconversion, excited state dynamics, and chromophore design. The sessions featured talks from renowned chemists in each field – Claudia Turro (Ohio State), Tony Vlcek (Queen Mary University of London/J. Heyrovsky Institute, Prague), Kenneth Wärnmark (Lund University), Mariachiara Pastore (University of Lorraine), and Sherri McFarland (UT Arlington).

The meeting was chaired by Profs. Jeffrey Rack (University of New Mexico), Sylvestre Bonnet (Leiden University), and Elena Jakubikova (North Carolina State University). The meeting audience was composed of leading researchers, as well as postdocs and graduate students, from the USA, Sweden, Netherlands, Switzerland, France, Finland, and the United Kingdom. Our speaker line up reflected the diversity of the photochemistry researchers, with 47% female and 53% male.

The conference offers a format that is unique to the photochemistry meetings. The small size of the meeting enables participants to meet and talk to all, or at least to the majority, of the conference attendees. The informal interactions are facilitated by the networking reception, refreshment breaks, poster sessions, and group dinners that lead to meaningful interactions between students, postdoc and senior researchers. The schedule is family-friendly with breaks in the afternoon that allow everyone to enjoy the beautiful location, and many participants bring along guests who are also invited to group dinners. 

The poster sessions were preceded by the “Meet the Poster Presenters” session, where the presenters were given an opportunity to introduce their poster. This resulted in lively poster sessions with many fruitful discussions. The poster prizes were awarded based on votes from the attendees, with the awards going to Valeriia Andreeva (Leiden University) and Kaytlin Ward (University of Delaware). The short talk award was given to Christina Wegeberg from the University of Basel.

We are thankful to our sponsors and media partners – Magnitude Instruments (represented at the meeting by Eric Kennehan), American Chemical Society Division of Inorganic Chemistry (represented by Ana de Bettencourt-Dias, Jeffrey Rack, and Claudia Turro), North Carolina State University, University of New Mexico, and ACS Omega. These sponsor contributions were used to support attendance of graduate students and postdocs from across the globe and our poster and short talk awards.

The conference will focus on the frontiers (or cutting-edge) of research in the photochemical sciences. Topics to be discussed are:

●    Phototherapy
●    Solar Fuels
●    Up-conversion
●    New Chromophore Design
●    Excited State Dynamics
●    Donor-Acceptor Interactions
●    Sensing

Student Offer

Take advantage of this fantastic opportunity for students! Fully paying academics can bring one student for only $785. Unfortunately, Postdocs are not eligible. Both registration packages include; accommodation for the 22, 23, 24 May 2022 (on a shared basis for students) and a 24hour all-inclusive food and beverage package for the conference period. Once registered, please contact Laura Trundle to obtain one special registration link for your student. This offer is available until the registration deadline, 15 April 2022.

Confirmed Invited Speakers

Jean-Luc Ayitou (University of Illinois Chicago)
MOLECULAR ENGINEERING OF DONOR-ACCEPTOR DYADS FOR TRIPLET-TRIPLET ANNIHILATION BASED PHOTON UPCONVERSION
Jason Benedict (University at Buffalo)
DIARYLETHENE-BASED CRYSTALLINE MATERIALS: DESIGN AND FUNCTION
Ana de Bettencourt-Dias (University of Nevada, Reno)
PROGRESS TOWARDS MOLECULAR UPCONVERSION IN LN(III) SYSTEMS
Sijia Dong (Northeastern University)
LESSONS FROM SIMULATING BIOLOGICAL CHROMOPHORES
Malcolm Forbes (Bowling Green State University)
RADICAL–TRIPLET PAIR INTERACTIONS: NEW TOOLS FOR MECHANISTIC PHOTOCHEMISTRY
Lisa Fredin (Lehigh University)
ACCURATE MODELS OF UNDERCOORDINATED PHOTOACTIVE SITES ON NANOTITANIAV
Anna Gudmundsdottir (University of Cincinnati)
CRYSTALS AT WORK
Kenneth Hanson (Florida State University)
IMPACT OF STRUCTURE ON ENERGY AND ELECTRON TRANSFER AT MOLECULAR MULTILAYER-METAL OXIDE INTERFACES
Jier Huang (Marquette University)
EXERCISING CONTROL OVER CO2 PHOTOREDUCTION THROUGH IMINE REVERSAL IN COVALENT ORGANIC FRAMEWORKS
Jussi Isokuortti (Tampere University)
EXPANDING EXCITATION WAVELENGTHS VIA ENDOTHERMIC TRIPLET-TRIPLET ENERGY TRANSFER: PHOTON UPCONVERSION AND BEYOND
Jeremy Kodanko (Wayne State University)
METAL-BASED INHIBITORS OF THE MAJOR HUMAN DRUG METABOLIZING ENZYME CYP3A4
Bart Limburg (ICIQ)
KEY INTER-CATALYST INTERACTIONS IN METALLAPHOTOREDOX CATALYSIS AND APPLICATIONS IN THE SYNTHESIS OF QUATERNARY CARBONS
Steven Lopez (Northeastern University)
MACHINE LEARNING ACCELERATED PHOTODYNAMICS SIMULATIONS REVEAL SUBSTITUENT EFFECTS TOWARDS CUBANES
Angel Martí (Rice University)
ENANTIOSELECTIVITY, ENERGETICS AND BINDING SITES OF PHOTOACTIVE METAL COMPLEXES IN SUPRAMOLECULAR AMYLOID-BETA ASSEMBILES
Catherine McCusker (East Tennessee State University)
QUANTIFYING TRIPLET STATE YIELD IN ZINC DIPYRRIN COMPLEXES
Sherri McFarland (University of Texas at Arlington)
NEXT-GENERATION LIGHT-TRIGGERED METALLODRUGS FOR CANCER THERAPY
Amanda Morris (Virginia Tech)
MECHANISTIC INVESTIGATIONS OF PHOTOACTIVE METAL ORGANIC FRAMEWORK CARBON DIOXIDE REDUCTION
Marta Maria Natile (National Research Council)
UPCONVERTING NANOCRYSTALS: INTRIGUING SYSTEMS FOR BIOMEDICAL APPLICATIONS
Jean-Hubert Olivier (University of Miami)
TOOLS TO CONTROL THE EXCITONIC PROPERTIES OF π-CONJUGATED SUPRAMOLECULAR POLYMERS
Andreea Pasc (University of Lorraine)
PHOTOTHERMAL MOLECULES AND NANOPARTICLES
Mariachiara Pastore (University of Lorraine)
IRON(II)-NHC DSSCs: MOLECULAR INGENEERING AND DEVICE OPTIMIZATION TOWARD RECORD POWER CONVERSION EFFICIENCIES
Joel Rosenthal (University of Delaware)
DESIGNING NON-AROMATIC TETRAPYRROLE COMPLEXES FOR PHOTOTREATMENT OF TRIPLE-NEGATIVE BREAST CANCER
John Swierk (Binghamton University)
THE OBVIOUS FACTS AND DECEPTIONS OF PHOTOREDOX REACTIONS
Claudia Turro (The Ohio State University)
PHOTOCATALYTIC HYDROGEN EVOLUTION WITH LOW-ENERGY RED LIGHT
Claudio Verani (Wayne State University)
FROM ELECTROCATALYTIC [Co^III] TO PHOTOCATALYTIC [Ru^IINi^IIRu^II] SPECIES - THE SEARCH FOR MECHANISTIC INSIGHTS ON H₂ GENERATION
Tony Vlcek (J. Heyrovsky Institute, Prague / Queen Mary University of London)
ULTRAFAST PHOTOXIDATION OF TRYPTOPHAN-CONTAINING PROTEINS: EXPERIMENT AND THEORY
Kenneth Wärnmark (Lund University)
IRON N-HETEROCYCLIC CARBENE COMPLEXES - EXCITED STATE DESIGN AND APPLICATION AS PHOTOSENSITIZERS
Elizabeth Young (Lehigh University)
ULTRA-FAST EXCITED-STATE DYNAMICS OF ACCESSING TRIPLET EXCITED STATES IN PORPHRINOIDS AND AZO-DYES

Target Audience

Scientists working in the broad field of photochemical sciences will be interested in the conference. This may include those from academia, national laboratories, research institutes, and/or related industries. We expect a good mix of both young, emerging chemists and established leaders in the field. Additionally, efforts will be undertaken to provide representation across Europe, Asia, and the Americas.

Educational Need

From the direct harnessing of the sun’s energy for solar cells or artificial photosynthesis to biological applications in drug delivery, photochemistry plays a vital role in answers to today’s challenges. Indeed, over 60K articles on various aspects of photochemistry have been published in just the last 6 years. Such productivity in a fast paced field can limit the wide-spread sharing of knowledge across sub-disciplines. The small setting of a Fusion conference is perfect for cross discipline interaction. Fusion provides the opportunity for deeper discussion, learning, and relationship building in comparison to other conferences in the field. In this setting, we hope attendees will leave the conference with new idea and approaches to explore in regards to their independent research programs.

Learning Objectives

1. Introduce the newest advances (discovery, approaches, etc) in the field of photochemistry through presentations (oral and poster) and lively discussion.
2. Develop a deeper understanding of photochemical principles, current research challenges, and the future of the field.
3. Provide an environment for cross-talk between photochemical disciplines and to promote collaborations.