Issue 40, 2023

Time-resolved enantiomer-exchange probed by using the orbital angular momentum of X-ray light

Abstract

Molecular chirality, a geometric property of utmost importance in biochemistry, is now being investigated in the time-domain. Ultrafast chiral techniques can probe the formation or disappearance of stereogenic centers in molecules. The element-sensitivity of X-rays adds the capability to probe chiral nuclear dynamics locally within the molecular system. However, the implementation of ultrafast techniques for measuring transient chirality remains a challenge because of the intrinsic weakness of chiral-sensitive signals based on circularly polarized light. We propose a novel approach for probing the enantiomeric dynamics by using the orbital angular momentum (OAM) of X-ray light, which can directly monitor the real-time chirality of molecules. Our simulations probe the oscillations in excited chiral formamide on different potential energy surfaces and demonstrate that using the X-ray OAM can increase the measured asymmetry ratio. Moreover, combining the OAM and SAM (spin angular momentum) provides stronger dichroic signals than linearly polarized light, and offers a powerful scheme for chiral discrimination.

Graphical abstract: Time-resolved enantiomer-exchange probed by using the orbital angular momentum of X-ray light

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Edge Article
Submitted
01 jun. 2023
Accepted
31 ago. 2023
First published
11 sep. 2023
This article is Open Access

All publication charges for this article have been paid for by the Royal Society of Chemistry
Creative Commons BY-NC license

Chem. Sci., 2023,14, 11067-11075

Time-resolved enantiomer-exchange probed by using the orbital angular momentum of X-ray light

X. Jiang, Y. Nam, J. R. Rouxel, H. Yong and S. Mukamel, Chem. Sci., 2023, 14, 11067 DOI: 10.1039/D3SC02807K

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