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Hydroxycarbene: Watching a Molecular Mole at Work
Author(s) -
Bucher Götz
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
angewandte chemie international edition
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.831
H-Index - 550
eISSN - 1521-3773
pISSN - 1433-7851
DOI - 10.1002/anie.200803195
Subject(s) - mole , quantum tunnelling , mole fraction , formaldehyde , work (physics) , chemistry , quantum , pyrolysis , materials science , physics , organic chemistry , thermodynamics , quantum mechanics , optoelectronics
Finding a pico‐mole : like a mole, hydroxycarbene prefers to tunnel through barriers. Generated from glyoxylic acid by pyrolysis, HCOH rearranges to formaldehyde within two hours even in solid argon at T =10 K. This behavior is best rationalized by quantum mechanical tunneling.