(R)-2-iodobutane (IMAGE)

ETH Zurich

(R)-2-iodobutane

Caption

Chiral molecules - compounds that are mirror images of each other -- play an important role in biological processes and in chemical synthesis. Chemists at ETH Zurich have now succeeded for the first time in using ultrafast laser pulses to observe changes in chirality during a chemical reaction in real time.

Credit

ETH Zurich / Joachim Schnabl

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