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Molecule Guide to Understanding Chemical Reactions Better Scientists
Scientists at Tokyo Institute of Technology (Tokyo Tech) report measurement of electrical conductivity of single DNA molecules as a way of monitoring the formation of double-stranded DNA on a gold surface. In their latest paper, they investigate the time evolution of the reaction and report findings not observed previously, demonstrating the suitability of the single-molecule approach in elucidating reaction pathways and exploring novel chemical processes.
Scientists globally aim to control chemical reactions an ambitious goal that requires identifying the steps taken by initial reactants to arrive at the final products as the reaction takes place. While this dream remains to be realized, techniques for probing chemical reactions have become sufficiently advanced to render it possible. In fact, chemical reactions can now be monitored based on the change of electronic properties of a single molecule! Tha
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IMAGE: The methodology we have described can be extended to the investigation of intermolecular chemical reactions between a variety of single molecules and can lead to mechanistic understanding of chemical reactions. view more
Credit: Tokyo Tech
Scientists globally aim to control chemical reactions an ambitious goal that requires identifying the steps taken by initial reactants to arrive at the final products as the reaction takes place. While this dream remains to be realized, techniques for probing chemical reactions have become sufficiently advanced to render it possible. In fact, chemical reactions can now be monitored based on the change of electronic properties of a single molecule! Thanks to the scanning tunneling microscope (STM), this is also simple to accomplish. Why not then utilize a single-molecule approach to uncover reaction pathways as well?