What is it about?
Aliphatic chains are one of the most frequent molecular building blocks in biochemistry. Here we present a novel type of spectroscopy to study the structure and dynamics of these chains using a sophisticated quantum process that can be explained in terms of spin order propagation.
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Photo by Bozhin Karaivanov on Unsplash
Why is it important?
For over a century, spin waves have been fundamental in understanding ferromagnetism, conductors, and semiconductors. Here we discover that spin waves can be excited in molecular aliphatic chains with liquid-state nuclear magnetic resonance. These experiments hold promise for advancing research in bio-molecular dynamics and drug discovery.
Perspectives
Working on this project was very exciting as the initial observations were a consequence of a lucky mistake. Then gradually we realized that these phenomena can be understood in a much wider context and there is beautiful underlying physics. This is a truly interdisciplinary project where quantum physics meets spectroscopy and puts those in good use for chemical and biological applications.
Dr. Kirill Sheberstov
Ecole Normale Superieure
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Collective long-lived zero-quantum coherences in aliphatic chains, The Journal of Chemical Physics, April 2024, American Institute of Physics,
DOI: 10.1063/5.0196808.
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