More Information
Related Jobs from ScienceCareers
|
|
Science 26 November 1999:
Vol. 286. no. 5445, p. 1645
DOI: 10.1126/science.286.5445.1645n
|
|
This Week in Science
Reactions between atoms and molecules usually proceed via a transition state, the high-energy state through which the reactants must pass before becoming products. The transition-state structure is crucial in determining the overall reaction dynamics and rates. However, Skouteris et al. (p. 1713) found that when the reactants are still relatively far apart, weak van der Waals interactions can also influence reaction rates. In the reaction of chlorine atoms with HD molecules, these weak interactions influenced the way in which the reactants approach each other, and thus affect the reaction dynamics. However, these effects can only be seen at low rotational excitations of the reactants, and their detection requires sophisticated crossed molecular beam experiments and state-of-the-art ab initio calculations.
|
|
Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)
