{
  "abstract": "Anthocyanins are widespread natural pigments responsible for the vibrant colors of fruits and flowers and play key roles in photoprotection. Despite their biological significance, the interplay between excited-state proton transfer (ESPT) and ultrafast relaxation remains poorly understood. Here, we investigate the ultrafast excited-state dynamics of delphinidin-3-O-rutinoside (D3R) in aqueous solution at pH 2—where the protonated flavylium cation dominates—using femtosecond broadband transient absorption spectroscopy. Excitation at 525 nm induces rapid spectral changes on the sub-picosecond timescale connected with sub 50 fs deprotonation in the excited state. Global analysis reveals two dominant processes: a 0.12 ps component assigned to ultrafast proton transfer from the excited flavylium cation to the solvent, forming the electronically excited quinoidal base (QB). This is followed by a 0.47 ps component characterized by strong bleach recovery, representing the primary relaxation pathway back to the ground state of at least 70%. Partial germinal reprotonation occurs upon electronic relaxation to the ground state. A mixture of vibrationally excited D3R and QB results. A characteristic time scale is around 3 ps. Reprotonation of QB occurs on the ps–ns timescale via diffusion-controlled processes. The overall process enables rapid dissipation of excitation energy, providing a mechanistic basis for the photoprotective function of anthocyanins in biological systems.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Institut für Experimentalphysik, Freie Universität Berlin, Arnimallee 14, D-14195 Berlin, Germany"
  ],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 3,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Florian Bartonitz",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-6712-2841"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "J. Luis Pérez Lustres",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-8853-9905"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Karsten Heyne",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-3243-9160"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/6hnhh2sgqc1ae.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.3390/molecules31203645",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "6hnhh2sgqc1ae",
  "issns": [
    "1420-3049"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://www.mdpi.com/1420-3049/31/20/3645",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "openalex",
      "1606|Photochemistry and Electron Transfer Studies"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7221662592",
  "pdf_url": null,
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-10-13",
  "publisher": "MDPI AG",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/6hnhh2sgqc1ae.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:18:42Z",
      "native_id": "10.3390/molecules31203645",
      "source": "crossref",
      "url": "https://www.mdpi.com/1420-3049/31/20/3645"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "chemistry",
      "origin": "openalex:1606|Photochemistry and Electron Transfer Studies",
      "subfield": "physical"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Ultrafast, Non-Productive, Deprotonation of the Excited Flavylium Cation in Delphinidin-3-O-Rutinoside",
  "title_text": "Ultrafast, Non-Productive, Deprotonation of the Excited Flavylium Cation in Delphinidin-3-O-Rutinoside",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:18:42Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/6hnhh2sgqc1ae",
  "venue": "Molecules",
  "versions": []
}