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Science 13 October 2006:
Vol. 314. no. 5797, p. 220
DOI: 10.1126/science.314.5797.220c
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Catalysts can favor one set of products over another by reducing the energy required to reach particular conformations along one of the reaction trajectories. Sussman et al. (p. 278; see the Perspective by Rabitz) show that a similar effect can be induced by an intense infrared (IR) laser field in the photochemical dissociation of IBr. The reaction was initiated with a visible pulse. By applying a time delay, the IR field could be moved along the reaction trajectory, where it modified the energy landscape through Stark shifting to favor either of two pathways. The Stark pulse need not be resonant with an absorption band of the reacting molecules, so the technique should be applicable across a very wide range of substrates.




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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)