Rayleigh optical activity: a new spectroscopic technique for chiral samples.

瑞利散射是光子与原子或分子的弹性碰撞；这是一个众所周知的现象，主要是天空中光线的蓝色和偏振造成的。大约50年前，人们预测，在这种情况下，手性分子对左手和右手的圆偏振光的反应应该不同；这种现象现在被称为瑞利光学活性。令人惊讶的是，瑞利光学在小分子手性分子中的实验观察还没有报道，尽管在下一代药物制造技术中潜在的应用范围从绝对构型的稳健指定到手性晶体生长的快速监测。PHD的目的是通过完成以下目标来发展瑞利光学活性作为一种新的手性样品的光谱技术：(I)扩展现有的瑞利光学活性理论；(Ii)在实验室中帮助设计和建立专用的瑞利光学活性光谱仪；(Iii)首次报道了手性小分子的瑞利旋光活性的实验观测结果；(Iv)探索了瑞利旋光活性的潜在应用。这是一个跨学科的项目，不仅涉及物理，还涉及化学，甚至生物学。

Rayleigh scattering is the elastic collision of a photon with an atom or molecule; a well-known phenomenon, largely responsible for the blue colour and polarisation of light from the sky. It was predicted some fifty years ago that chiral molecules should respond differently to left- and right-handed circular polarisations of light in this context; a phenomenon now referred to as Rayleigh optical activity. Surprisingly, the experimental observation of Rayleigh optical has not yet been reported for small chiral molecules, in spite of potential applications ranging from the robust assignment of absolute configurations to the rapid monitoring of chiral crystal growth in the next generation of pharmaceutical manufacturing techniques.The aim of the PhD is to develop Rayleigh optical activity as a new spectroscopic technique for chiral samples, by completing the following objectives: (i) extend the existing theory of Rayleigh optical activity; (ii) help design and build a dedicated Rayleigh optical activity spectrometer in the laboratory; (iii) report, for the first time, experimental observations of Rayleigh optical activity for small chiral molecules and (iv) explore potential applications of Rayleigh optical activity. This is in interdisciplinary project that involves not only physics but also chemistry and even biology.