Femtosecond - Coincidence Studies of Molecular Chirality

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Karl-Michael Weitzel
• Subject Area: Physical Chemistry of Molecules, Liquids and Interfaces, Biophysical Chemistry
• Term: from 2017 to 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 345790396

Within this project studies of molecular chirality will be performed within the frame of fs-laser ionization employing circularly polarized light. More specifically the circular dichroism in photoionization yields (PICD) as well as the photoelectron circular dichroism (PECD) will be investigated for selected target molecules (limonene, glycidol and 3-methylcyclopentanone) as a function of the wavelength in the UV/VIS and as the function of the spectral phase of the laser pulses. Ultimately these two experiments will be combined in photoelectron-photoion-coincidence experiment (PEPICO_CD) employing a high-repetition fs-laser system.The project aims at resolving apparent discrepancies existing between current PICD and PECD studies. By performing a photoelectron-photoion-coincidence experiment we will elucidate whether the two effects PICD and PECD, which are based on different selection rules, are simply additive or depend on each other. We expect that the results of this research will contribute to improving future applications of fs-laser ionization mass spectrometry in the investigation of chirality properties in chemical analysis.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• Major Instrumentation: Vakuumpumpen und Druckmessung
• Instrumentation Group: 8300 Labor-Vakuumeinrichtung