Subpicosecond fluorescence depletion spectroscopy (FDS) was used to measure the solvation dynamics of coumarin 153 (C153) in methanol. The FDS mechanisms were discussed. A quasi-continuous model was used to describe the solvational relaxation of excited states. The perturbations of the probe pulse on the excited sample system, including up-conversion and stimulated emission, were sufficiently discussed. For a probe molecule used in the FDS experiment, ensuring that the up-conversion perturbation can be negligible is important. FDS was found to be a good technique for measuring the solvation dynamics of C153 in methanol.Highlights► Mechanisms of subpicosecond fluorescence depletion spectroscopy. ► Quasi-continuous model was used to describe the solvational relaxation. ► The solvation dynamics of coumarin 153 in methanol has been measured.

•Adenine forms stacked conformers at the AOT/water interface.•In CTAB reverse micelles, no emission from adenine excimers was observed.•Different interactions of encapsulated molecules with AOT and CTAB were given here.We explore the locations of adenine encapsulated in the anionic Aerosol-OT (AOT) and cationic cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) reverse micelles (RMs) utilizing steady-state spectroscopy and molecular dynamics simulations. In AOT RMs with various water contents, adenine forms stacked conformers at the AOT/water interface, determined by the appearance of emission from adenine excimers and molecular dynamics simulations. In contrast, adenine resides in the water core of CTAB RMs without the formation of stacked conformers. The interbase distance of stacked adenines at the AOT/water interface has a significant fluctuation, especially in RMs of low water content. Hydrogen bonding interactions between adenine and AOT molecules play a role in the formation of stacked adenines.