The fourth Fusion conference on “Frontiers in Photochemistry” was held at the Dolce CampoReal Resort near Lisbon, Portugal, and hosted a diverse group of researchers from thirteen different countries and four continents. Speakers were at the forefront of areas that included photomedicine, renewable energy, photoactive materials, and quantum information science, among others. These topics are of great interest to the future of society, garnering substantial investment from government and private funding agencies across the globe. In the area of photochemotherapy for example, the use of photochemistry to activate medicines locally, to control genes, or for super-resolution microscopy, were discussed. Importantly, the sessions focused not only on photomedical outcomes, but also on understanding the molecular design factors that lead to specific photobiological effects. These details will allow researchers to design new molecules and materials with improved clinical properties.

Photochemistry has also made important contribution in photocatalysis, a critical field of research dedicated to the generation of new chemicals not available by other methods, including improved and novel pathways to produce compounds for the pharmaceutical industry or for solar fuels. This area has been coined photoredox catalysis, and during the conference talks focused on several cutting-edge methods and on understanding reactivity. The use of abundant and economic first-row transition metal sensitizers has received particular attention during these 4 days, both for generating complex chemotherapeutics, as well as for the conversion of sunlight and greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide, into value-added chemicals called “solar fuels”.

The talks and poster sessions were very lively and resulted in new connections and several new collaborations. The atmosphere at the meeting was excellent, driven by a good gender balance (over 40% women) and an excellent mixture between young and more experienced speakers. Importantly, the graduate students and postdoctoral researchers, along with faculty, benefited greatly from the smaller conference size and atmosphere, which served to enhance professional and personal interactions. The overall organization of the talks, poster sessions and meals, enabled by a very professional Fusion team, facilitated lively discussions among all participants and allowed for easy interactions between junior and senior researchers that are much more difficult to find in larger meetings. The discussions continued into the afternoon excursions to the local wineries and the town of Obidos. The meeting concluded with a gala dinner, dancing, and outstanding live music!

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

●    Photoactive materials
●    Solar Fuels
●    Photomedicine
●    Excited State Dynamics 
●    Up-conversion 
●    Chromophore Design
●    Photoredox catalysis

Student Offer

Take advantage of this fantastic opportunity for students! Fully paying 'single' or 'shared' registrants can bring a student for only €926. Unfortunately, Postdocs are not eligible. Both registration packages include; accommodation for the 10, 11, 12 July 2024 (on a shared basis for students) and a food and beverage package for the conference period. Once registered, please contact Jack Peters to obtain a special registration link for your student. 

Confirmed Invited Speakers

Maria Abrahamsson (Chalmers University of Technology)
MECHANISTIC UNDERSTANDING OF AQUEOUS PHOTOCATALYTIC CO2 REDUCTION
A. Jean-Luc Ayitou (University of Illinois Chicago)
TAILORING AROMATICITY REVERSAL IN HETEROCYCLIC THIONES FOR RAPID PHOTOCHEMICAL CROSS-COUPLING REACTIONS AND ISOTOPE LABELING OF BIOACTIVE PLATFORMS
Maurício da Silva Baptista (Universidade de Sao Paulo)
ELECTROPHILES FORMED DURING TYPE-I PHOTOSENSITIZED OXIDATION OF LIPID MEMBRANES SHOULD BE CONSIDERED IN PHOTOMEDICINE AND IN SUN CARE 
Jason Benedict (University at Buffalo)
BEAUTIFYING YOUR BENCHTOP: CRYSTAL LANDSCAPING OF PHOTOACTIVE CRYSTALLINE MATERIALS
Ana de Bettencourt-Dias (University of Nevada, Reno)
LUMINESCENT COMPOUNDS FOR INTRACELLULAR REPORTING OF VISCOSITY AND TEMPERATURE
Sylvestre Bonnet (Leiden University)
SOAPY SENSITIZERS FOR PHOTOCATALYTIC SOFT MATTER SYSTEMS
Carla Casadevall Serrano (University Rovira I Virgili)
FROM MOLECULAR COMPLEXES TO HYBRID SYSTEMS FOR SOLAR FUELS AND CHEMICALS
Isabelle Dixon (CNRS/University of Toulouse)
LIGAND PHOTORELEASE MECHANISMS INVOLVING 3MC STATES : WHAT WE KNOW SO FAR
Daniel Escudero (Katholieke Universiteit Leuven)
MODELLING INTERSYSTEM CROSSING PROCESSES IN ORGANIC FLUOROPHORES
Roberto Etchenique (Universidad de Buenos Aires)
RUTHENIUM-BIPYRIDYL COMPLEXES AS A PLATFORM IN PHOTOACTIVATED CHEMOTHERAPY
Lisa Fredin (Lehigh University)
MOLECULAR DISTORTIONS IN PHOTOACTIVE ORGANIC MATERIALS
Phoebe Glazer (North Carolina State University)
PHOTOCAGES AND ENZYME PHOTO-INDUCED SUICIDE INHIBITORS
Ksenija Glusac (University of Illinois Chicago)
FROM CAPTURED CO2 TO VALUE-ADDED CHEMICALS: A PHOTOCHEMICAL APPROACH
Kenneth Hanson (Florida State University)
STRUCTURAL INSIGHTS INTO METAL ION LINKED MOLECULAR MULTILAYERS USING POLARIZED SPECTROSCOPY
Ali Hassanali (International Centre for Theoretical Physics)
TOWARD FUNDAMENTAL DESIGN PRINCIPLES OF HYDROGEN-BOND NETWORKS AS FLUORESCENT PROBES
Milena Jovanovic (North Carolina State University)
THE EFFECTS ON ELECTRON DELOCALIZATION ON BAND GAPS AND OPTICAL PROPERTIES OF MATERIALS
Christoph Kerzig (Johannes Gutenberg Universität Mainz)
UV LIGHT GENERATION AND CHALLENGING PHOTOREACTIONS ENABLED BY PHOTON UPCONVERSION
Tia Keyes (Dublin City University)
METAL COMPLEX LUMINOPHORE G-QUADRUPLEX TARGETING IN IMAGING AND PHOTOTHERAPY
Bart Limburg (University of Barcelona)
THERMALLY-ACTIVATED DELAYED FLUORESCENCE PHOTOREDOX CATALYSTS IN SYNTHETIC ORGANIC CHEMISTRY
Steven Lopez (Northeastern University)
MACHINE LEARNING ACCELERATED PHOTODYNAMICS SIMULATIONS OF PHOTOCHEMICAL PERICYCLIC REACTIONS
James McCusker (Michigan State University)
LEVERAGING VIBRONIC COHERENCE FOR SYNTHESIS-DRIVEN CONTROL OF EXCITED-STATE DYNAMICS IN TRANSITION METAL-BASED CHROMOPHORES
Sherri McFarland (University of Texas at Arlington)
HARNESSING THE EXCITED STATE DYNAMICS OF METAL COMPLEXES FOR PHOTOTHERAPY
Mariachiara Pastore (University of Lorraine)
HYBRID QUANTUM-CLASSICAL APPROACHES FOR THE SPECTROSCOPY OF MOLECULES AND MOLECULAR AGGREGATES IN SOLUTION
Elisa Pieri (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)
IN AND OUT OF THE INTERSECTION SEAM: INSIGHTS INTO PHOTOCHEMICAL PROPERTIES
Jeffrey Rack (University of New Mexico)
A NEW LOOK AT THE MAGNETO-OPTICAL ACTIVITY OF METALLOPORPHYRINS
Joel Rosenthal (University of Delaware)
SYNTHESIS AND SPECTROSCOPIC CHARACTERIZATION OF NEAR-IR ABSORBING NON-AROMATIC TETRAPYRROLE PHYTOTHERAPEUTIC AGENTS
José Ruiz (Universidad de Murcia)
ACHIEVING RED-LIGHT ANTICANCER PHOTODYNAMIC THERAPY UNDER HYPOXIC CONDITIONS USING Ir(III)-COUPY CONJUGATES
Kenneth Wärnmark (Lund University)
PHOTOREDOX CATALYSIS USING THE CHARGE-TRANSFER STATE OF IRON COMPLEXES
Michael Wasielewski (Northwestern University)
CHIRALITY-INDUCED SPIN SELECTIVITY IN ELECTRON DONOR-ACCEPTOR SYSTEMS
Taotao Zou (Sun Yat-Sen University)
PHOTOACTIVATABLE GOLD-BASED ANTICANCER PRODRUGS

Educational Need

From the direct harnessing of the Sun’s energy for solar cells or artificial photosynthesis to biological applications in drug delivery or synthetic applications, 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 regard to their independent research programs.

Although the below programme is the most up to date version, please note it is still a draft copy and is subject to change. We will continue to upload the latest version here, and circulate a final copy to all participants in the week before the meeting.