The results of ultrafast infrared experiments that shed light on the influences of nanoconfinement, interfaces, and ions on water hydrogen bond dynamics are presented. In such situations, water does not behave in the same manner as it does in the pure bulk liquid. 2D IR vibrational echo experiments and IR polarization selective pump-probe experiments are used to directly probe water dynamics. The results of experiments on water interacting with charged and neutral interfaces are presents as well as experiments in which water interacts with ions. It is found that water interacting with interfaces slows hydrogen bond dynamics but the presence of the interface is more important than the chemical nature of the interface. The exchange of water hydrogen bonds between ions and other water molecules is slower than in bulk water, but only by a factor of three or four.
