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Climbing the Rotational Ladder to Chirality
Alec Owens1,2, Andrey Yachmenev1,2, Sergei N Yurchenko3
1Center for Free-Electron Laser Science, Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY, Notkestraße 85, 22607 Hamburg, Germany.
Physical Review Letters
|November 24, 2018
Summary
Achiral molecules can become chiral through extreme rotation. This study demonstrates generating rotationally induced chirality in phosphine (PH3) using an optical centrifuge and electric field, creating dynamically chiral molecules.
Area of Science:
- Molecular chirality and quantum dynamics
- Physical chemistry and spectroscopy
Background:
- Chirality is typically defined by a molecule's static, equilibrium structure.
- Achiral molecules can exhibit transient chirality under specific dynamic conditions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To theoretically demonstrate a method for inducing molecular chirality via extreme rotational excitation.
- To explore the creation of dynamically chiral molecules using an optical centrifuge.
Main Methods:
- Theoretical modeling of phosphine (PH3) molecule excitation.
- Utilizing an optical centrifuge to induce high-frequency rotation.
- Applying a strong direct current (dc) electric field to influence enantiomeric selection.
Main Results:
- Rotationally excited phosphine molecules form chiral cluster states.
- Clockwise (R) and anticlockwise (L) enantiomers are generated.
- An electric field biases the production towards a specific enantiomer, creating oriented, dynamically chiral molecules.
Conclusions:
- Extreme rotational excitation offers a novel pathway to molecular chirality.
- Dynamically chiral molecules with oriented angular momentum can be created.
- This work provides a new perspective on chirality as a fundamental property beyond equilibrium structures.
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