Premium
Laser Mass Spectrometry with Circularly Polarized Light: Circular Dichroism of Cold Molecules in a Supersonic Gas Beam
Author(s) -
Titze Katharina,
Zollitsch Tilo,
Heiz Ulrich,
Boesl Ulrich
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
chemphyschem
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.016
H-Index - 140
eISSN - 1439-7641
pISSN - 1439-4235
DOI - 10.1002/cphc.201402270
Subject(s) - circular dichroism , mass spectrometry , chemistry , molecular beam , spectroscopy , molecule , vibrational circular dichroism , supersonic speed , excited state , analytical chemistry (journal) , molecular physics , atomic physics , crystallography , organic chemistry , physics , chromatography , quantum mechanics , thermodynamics
An experiment on chiral molecules that combines circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy, mass‐selective detection by laser mass spectrometry (MS), and cooling of molecules by using a supersonic beam is presented. The combination of the former two techniques (CD–laser‐MS) is a new method to investigate chiral molecules and is now used by several research groups. Cooling in a supersonic beam supplies a substantial increase in spectroscopic resolution, a feature that has not yet been used in CD spectroscopy. In the experiments reported herein, a large variation in the electronic CD of carbonyl 3‐methylcyclopentanone was observed depending on the excited vibrational modes in the n →π* transition. This finding should be of interest for the detection of chiral molecules and for the theoretical understanding of the CD of vibronic bands. It is expected that this effect will show up in other chiral carbonyls because the n →π* transition is typical for the carbonyl group.