New Technique Capable of Imaging Molecules Before and After Reactions Could Change the World of Chemistry

Chemists are hailing a technique capable of capturing an atomic-scale image of a chemical before and after it reacts as a major breakthrough in the world of science.

Pioneered by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, the method uses a state-of-the-art atomic force microscope to clearly depict how a molecule’s structure changes during a reaction whereas previously, scientists were only able to infer this type of information from spectroscopic analysis.

“Even though I use these molecules on a day-to-day basis, actually being able to see these pictures blew me away,” lead researcher Felix Fischer, an assistant professor of chemistry, said in a press release. “Wow! This is what my teachers used to say that you would never be able to actually see, and now we have it here.”

The capacity to image molecular reactions in this way has the potential not only of helping chemistry students better understand chemical structures and reactions, but showing chemists for the first time exactly the products of their reactions and, in so doing, help them fine-tune them to get precisely the results they want.

Fischer, along with his colleague Michael Crommie, a UC Berkeley professor of physics, captured the images with the hope of building new graphene nanostructures with the hope of aiding in the production in next-generation electronics.

However, as Fischer further explained, the implications of their research don’t stop there.

“This technique will find application in the study of heterogeneous catalysis, for example,” he said, referring to a process widely used in the oil and chemical industries.

Furthermore, Fischer explained, in order for scientists to understand the chemistry that is actually happening on a catalytic surface they need a tool capable of identifying what bonds have actually formed and the ones that have broken.

For this reason, he said, “This technique is unique out there right now for the accuracy with which it gives you structural information,” adding, “I think it’s groundbreaking.”

As Commie described it, the discovery may yet prove infinitely helpful in creating new engineered nanostructures due to its ability to inform scientists exactly how different molecular structures connect.

Of it, he said, “This points the way forward.”