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Ultimate control in chemistry

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Andreas Osterwalder
2021

Abstract

Controlling reactions between molecules is a major fundamental goal in chemistry and doing so on the level of individual quantum states is very challenging. Now, control over the reactant state and full characterization of the product-state distribution of an ultracold bimolecular reaction has been demonstrated.

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https://infoscience.epfl.ch/entities/publication/029dfd50-c4a2-4e44-ab8e-cf2c4d8b7be0

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Related concepts (27)

Transition state

In chemistry, the transition state of a chemical reaction is a particular configuration along the reaction coordinate. It is defined as the state corresponding to the highest potential energy along this reaction coordinate. It is often marked with the double dagger ‡ symbol. As an example, the transition state shown below occurs during the SN2 reaction of bromoethane with a hydroxide anion: The activated complex of a reaction can refer to either the transition state or to other states along the reaction coordinate between reactants and products, especially those close to the transition state.

Steady state (chemistry)

In chemistry, a steady state is a situation in which all state variables are constant in spite of ongoing processes that strive to change them. For an entire system to be at steady state, i.e. for all state variables of a system to be constant, there must be a flow through the system (compare mass balance). A simple example of such a system is the case of a bathtub with the tap running but with the drain unplugged: after a certain time, the water flows in and out at the same rate, so the water level (the state variable Volume) stabilizes and the system is in a steady state.

Transition state theory

In chemistry, transition state theory (TST) explains the reaction rates of elementary chemical reactions. The theory assumes a special type of chemical equilibrium (quasi-equilibrium) between reactants and activated transition state complexes. TST is used primarily to understand qualitatively how chemical reactions take place.

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