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Standardized Method to Detect Tunneling Nanotubes in Human Skin Cells for Tissue Engineering Applications

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Published on: January 13, 2026

Tunnelling in carbonic acid.

J Philipp Wagner¹, Hans Peter Reisenauer¹, Viivi Hirvonen¹

¹Institute of Organic Chemistry, Justus-Liebig University, Heinrich-Buff-Ring 17, D-35392 Giessen, Germany. prs@uni-giessen.de.

Chemical Communications (Cambridge, England)

|June 2, 2016

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Carbonic acid (H2CO3) rotamerization occurs via quantum tunneling in cryogenic matrices. This process, observed with near-infrared radiation, has measured half-lives of 4-20 hours.

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Area of Science:

Physical Chemistry
Quantum Mechanics
Spectroscopy

Background:

Carbonic acid (H2CO3) is a key molecule in various chemical and biological systems.
Understanding its conformational dynamics is crucial for reaction mechanisms.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the unreported quantum mechanical tunneling rotamerization of carbonic acid.
To determine the half-lives of this process in cryogenic matrices.

Main Methods:

Generation of carbonic acid conformers using near-infrared radiation.
Measurement of rotamerization half-lives in cryogenic matrices at varying temperatures and host materials.
High-level first-principles quantum chemistry calculations.

Main Results:

Observed quantum mechanical tunneling rotamerization of carbonic acid (H2CO3).
Measured rotamerization half-lives ranging from 4 to 20 hours.
Theoretical calculations predicted a tunneling half-life of approximately 1 hour, consistent with experimental findings.

Conclusions:

Quantum mechanical tunneling is a significant pathway for carbonic acid rotamerization.
The observed process is among the fastest rotamerizations reported.
This study provides new insights into the dynamics of carbonic acid in condensed phases.