Ultrafast excited-state dynamics in nucleic acids

This review covers works that demonstrate the impressive array of experimental and theoretical techniques that have been used to study excited singlet states in nucleic acids and their constituents. Femtosecond pump-probe experiments have been particularly helpful for elucidating the dynamics of these states. They have shown convincingly that the fluorescence lifetimes of single DNA bases are subpicosecond in room temperature solution, ending decades of uncertainty.