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；这是一种众所周知的现象，在很大程度上造成了天空中的蓝色和偏振光。大约50年前就有人预测，在这种情况下，手性分子对左旋和右旋圆偏振光的反应是不同的；这种现象现在被称为瑞利旋光性。令人惊讶的是，小手性分子的瑞利光学实验观察尚未被报道，尽管潜在的应用范围从绝对构型的稳健分配到下一代药物制造技术中手性晶体生长的快速监测。博士学位的目标是通过完成以下目标，将瑞利旋光性作为一种新的手性样品光谱技术来发展：(i)扩展现有的瑞利旋光性理论；（ii）帮助设计和建造实验室专用瑞利光活度光谱仪；(3)首次报道了小手性分子瑞利旋光性的实验观察结果；(4)探索了瑞利旋光性的潜在应用。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.