Collaborative Research in Chemistry (CRC): Laboratory for Molecular Sciences (LMS): Caltech's Multi-Disciplinary Activities

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This award from the Division of Chemistry supports the research of Professor Ahmed Zewail and colleagues at the California Institute of Technology for continuation of a program of research at the Laboratory for Molecular Science (LMS). The LMS is a multidisciplinary research laboratory for studying fundamental processes in complex molecular systems with atomic scale resolution in both structure and dynamics. The development of time-resolved diffraction and imaging methods represents a major focus for examining structures and their changes with time, both experimentally and theoretically. The research program at the LMS involves several members of the Cal Tech faculty who will collaborate to examine chemical and biological systems exhibiting a wide range of complexity. These faculty come from several disciplinary departments, such as chemistry, physics, biology, and engineering. The Laboratory is equipped with state-of-the-art ultrafast lasers, high-speed computers, biochemical and electrochemical instrumentation, and mass spectrometry. Research topics to be examined include molecular recognition, macromolecular transient structural changes, electrochemical catalysis, nanostructures, and imaging by optical tweezers.Over the last two decades great strides have been made in attaining both spatial and temporal resolution of chemical systems down to the atomic scale. This capability has provided new opportunities for studying molecular structure and dynamics in many disciplines. From the elementary dynamics of reactions and protein folding to the dynamics of molecular assemblies and condensed phases, theory and experiment at the fundamental scale of atomic resolution provides the key to understanding molecular function and materials properties. The field of molecular sciences is in the midst of a revolution, especially at the interface between chemistry and biology, where new experimental tools, such as those being developed and used at the LMS, are used to elucidate the structure and dynamics of complex molecular systems.