Helmholtz Association

23. May 2013 Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY

The chemistry of life is built on left-handed and right-handed molecules that can have completely different functions. A novel technique, developed by researchers from the US and Germany, can reliably tell these mirror molecules apart. The new method can in principle even detect the two variants in mixtures of substances, as the team report in the current cover story of the scientific journal “Nature”. The procedure also holds promise for the development of a technique to separate left- from right-handed variants of a molecule, write David Patterson and John Doyle of Harvard University together with Melanie Schnell of the Center for Free-Electron Laser Science CFEL in Hamburg, Germany, and the Max Planck Institute for nuclear physics in Heidelberg, Germany. CFEL is a joint venture of DESY, the Max Planck society and the University of Hamburg.

Microwaves reveal mirror molecules

The chemistry of life is built on left-handed and right-handed molecules that can have completely different functions. A novel technique, developed by researchers from the US and Germany, can reliably tell these mirror molecules apart. The new method can in principle even detect the two variants in mixtures of substances, as the team report in the current cover story of the scientific journal “Nature”. The procedure also holds promise for the development of a technique to separate left- from right-handed variants of a molecule, write David Patterson and John Doyle of Harvard University together with Melanie Schnell of the Center for Free-Electron Laser Science CFEL in Hamburg, Germany, and the Max Planck Institute for nuclear physics in Heidelberg, Germany. CFEL is a joint venture of DESY, the Max Planck society and the University of Hamburg.

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12.06.2013