= Anthony W. Parker
{c}
= Tony Parker
{disambiguate=optical physicist}
{c}
{synonym}
= A. W. Parker
{c}
{synonym}
\b[Anthony W. Parker], professionally known as \b[Tony Parker], works on time-resolved spectroscopy of chemical and biological systems at the Central Laser Facility. His institutional profile describes <Raman spectroscopy>, <infrared spectroscopy>, <two-dimensional infrared spectroscopy> and development of <spatially offset Raman spectroscopy>.<Tony Parker profile at the Central Laser Facility>[Research Interests and Background]{ref}
One aim of time-resolved spectroscopy is to identify short-lived reaction intermediates rather than observe only the final products. A structural assignment comes from the spectrum; its changing amplitude can then constrain a kinetic model. Those two kinds of information support each other but are not interchangeable.
For an original idealized example, suppose an intermediate disappears in a <first-order reaction> and its baseline-corrected band amplitude is proportional to its concentration. Then
$$
A(t)=A_0e^{-t/\tau}.
$$
At delay $t=\tau$, the amplitude is $A_0/e$, about36.8% of its starting value. A series of delayed measurements can estimate $\tau$, whereas a single steady-state spectrum cannot determine that decay time. The model assumes a fixed band strength and a sufficiently fast measurement response.
Parker also coauthored the2022 study of <RNA hairpin> melting and refolding using a <temperature jump> and time-resolved infrared observation.<Measuring RNA UNCG Tetraloop Refolding Dynamics Using Temperature-Jump Drop Infrared Spectroscopy by C. P. Howe and others>[Byline and Abstract]{ref} This illustrates how a spectroscopic technique developed for transient chemistry can be applied to structural dynamics of nucleic acids.
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