How the molecules transfer energy after absorbing radiation

"The idea has been floating around in the scientific community for decades and has been uncertain in a variety of contexts, but no one has proposed a chemical system that can prove whether the idea in question is valid or not," said the lead researcher

The same principle that causes ice skaters to turn faster as they bring their arms closer to the body is now being used by researchers at the University of Michigan to understand how molecules transfer energy to their surroundings following the absorption of light.

The conservation of angular momentum is a fundamental characteristic of nature, and it is used by astronomers to locate the positions of moons revolving around distant stars. In 1972, researchers proposed that this principle should also apply to chemical reactions, but a clear demonstration of this was never achieved. In the current issue of the prestigious journal Science, chemist Jim McCusker proves for the first time ever that the phenomenon does exist and also suggests how chemists can take advantage of it in order to control the pathways of chemical reactions in general and predict them.

"The idea has been floating around the scientific community for decades and has been uncertain in a variety of contexts, but no one has proposed a chemical system that can prove whether the idea in question is valid or not," said the lead researcher. "Our findings not only validate the idea, but they also allow us to start thinking about chemical reactions from a completely different perspective."

The experiment included the preparation of two similar compounds specially prepared to undergo a chemical reaction known as fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET= fluorescence resonance energy transfer). Following the absorption of radiation or light, the system tends to transfer the excess energy from one part of the molecule to another part of it. The researchers changed the identity of one of the atoms in the molecule from chromium to cobalt. This substitution changed the properties of the molecule and "disabled" the reaction. The absence of a measurable energy transition in the compound that contained cobalt instead of chromium confirmed the hypothesis.

"We successfully conducted what is known as a proof-of-principle experiment," explains the lead researcher. "Using these ideas for other chemical processes can easily be imagined, and we are indeed currently examining some of these possibilities." The researchers believe that their findings could affect a variety of fields, from molecular electronics, biology and energy science to the development of new types of chemical reactions.

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