Chirality in real time

Distinguishing between left-handed and right-handed (chiral) molecules is crucial in chemistry and the life sciences, and is commonly achieved using a method called circular dichroism. However, during biochemical reactions, ...

Investigating optical activity under an external magnetic field

Optical activity in chiral molecules has become a hot topic in physics and optics, representing the ability to manipulate the polarized state of light. Understanding how molecules rotate the plane of plane-polarized light ...

Observing changes in the chirality of molecules in real time

Some molecules can exist in two mirror-image forms, similar to our hands. Although such so-called enantiomers have almost identical physical properties, they are not the same. The fact that they behave to each other like ...

Using corkscrew lasers to separate chiral molecules

Many of the molecular building blocks of life have two versions that are mirror images of one another, known as enantiomers. Although seemingly identical, the two enantiomers can have completely different chemical behaviour—a ...

A possible strategy for a tabletop chiral attosecond laser

When molecules form from many atoms, the atoms can combine in different ways. Two forms of the same molecule can have the same composition but have different arrangements of atoms, giving rise to isomers. Some isomers may ...

Chemists develop new method to create chiral structures

Some molecules exist in two forms, such that their structures and their mirror images are not superimposable, like our left and right hands. Called chirality, it is a property these molecules have due to their asymmetry. ...

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