Spectroscopic Studies of Intermolecular Chiral Recognition and Electronic Energy Transfer Processes in Solution and in Crystals

在这个由化学部资助的实验物理化学项目中，理查德森教授（弗吉尼亚大学）将使用时间分辨发光测量来研究光学活性组分混合物中的微分反应动力学。从这些测量中得到的参数携带了光团-猝灭剂相互作用的大小和意义（“手性”）的信息，并为研究结构动力学的手性方面提供了新的有用工具。由于反应性和对称性之间微妙的相互作用，那些镜像不能重叠的分子长期以来一直吸引着化学家。Richardson教授开发了一种新的光谱方法来研究这些分子之间的快速化学反应，该方法能够测量反应速率，而不需要繁琐而困难的镜像物种分离。这种方法将用于提供关于激发态的“手性”如何导致最终产物中类似手性的识别的重要信息。结果将是对基本反应机制的立体化学有更深的了解。

In this Experimental Physical Chemistry project funded by the Chemistry Division, Prof. Richardson (University of Virginia) will use time resolved luminescence measurements to study differential reaction kinetics in mixtures of optically active components. Parameters derived from these measurements carry information about both the magnitude and sense ("handedness") of the luminophore-quencher interactions, and provide a new and useful tool for studying chiral aspects of structural dynamics. %%% Molecules whose mirror images are not superimposable have long fascinated chemists, because of the subtle interplay between reactivity and symmetry. Prof. Richardson has developed a new spectroscopic method for studying fast chemical reactions among such molecules, which has the capability of measuring reaction rates without the need for tedious and difficult separation of the mirror image species. This method will be used to provide important information on how the "handedness" of excited molecular states leads to recognition of similar handedness in final products. The result will be a deeper understanding of the stereochemistry of fundamental reaction mechanisms.