Tracking the ultraviolet-induced photochemistry of thiophenone during and after ultrafast ring opening

Light-induced ring opening reactions, which form the basis of important biological processes such as vitamin D synthesis and are also touted as promising candidates for the development of molecular switches, have intrigued the photochemistry community for decades. In recent years, new time-resolved techniques have emerged to investigate these processes with unprecedented temporal and spatial resolution, making it possible to visualize electronic changes and the movement of atoms in the molecule at each step of a chemical reaction.