Abstract

Tunable Chiroptical Induction/Destruction Using Synchrotron-Sourced Circularly Polarized Light

Amanda Evans, Scientist, Los Alamos National Laboratory

This talk will focus on the use of circularly polarized (cp), or “chiral”, light as a supramolecular chiroptical field for selective asymmetrical destruction of small molecules as a continuous photochemical process. A series of experiments have been performed using synchrotron-sourced cp light as the sole source of chiroptical induction under a number of different conditions. Experimental circular dichroism (CD) and anisotropy spectroscopy have been used to characterize a series of small molecules into the vacuum/low UV prior to cp exposure, and theoretical predictive approaches for generating CD and anisotropy spectra for small molecules have also been established. Novel applications of these approaches for selective photodestruction will be discussed, and the relevance of these results for the chiral origins of life will also be considered.