×

Our recent paper in Physical Review Letters, Fast Molecular Compression by a Hyperthermal Collision Gives Bond-Selective Mechanochemistry, has garnered interest in many review publications. 

It has been featured in Nature Reviews Chemistry , New Scientist, and Chemistry World, published by the Royal Society of Chemistry, as well as being featured in Viewpoint in Physical Review Letters. 

About the experiment: Using electrospray ion beam deposition, we collide the complex molecule Reichardt’s dye at low, hyperthermal translational energy with a copper surface and image the outcome at single-molecule level by STM. We observe bond-selective reaction induced by the translational kinetic energy. The collision impulse compresses the molecule and bends specific bonds, prompting them to react selectively. This dynamics drives the system to seek thermally inaccessible reactive pathways, since the compression timescale (subpicosecond) is much shorter than the thermalization timescale (nanosecond). The fate of the molecule depends on its orientation when hitting the surface - it can either remain intact, crack or split. This gives great insights into better understanding mechanochemistry.

×

In our recent paper in Nature we were able to show direct imaging of single glycan molecules that are isolated by mass-selective, soft-landing electro spray ion beam deposition and imaged by low-temperature tunnelling microscopy. The sub-nanometre resolution of the technique enables the visualisation of glycan connectivity and discrimination between regioisomers. Direct glycan imaging is an important  step toward a better understanding of the structure of carbohydrates. 

The publication was featured in Nature Methods. 

×

In detailed simulations done by our colleagues in Berlin (J. Reiss CFD group, TU-Berlin) we look at the ion transport in transfer capillaries. We illuminate how heating affects the transport and the ion distribution. Also we see how space charge favours ions of low mobility and charge states to be transmitted. The paper

Bernier et al., IJMS 447 (2020) 116239