Periodic Reporting for period 1 - MiCRoARTiS (Microwave Fingerprinting Artificial Molecular Motors in Virtual Isolation)
Periodo di rendicontazione: 2022-09-01 al 2025-02-28
Artificial Molecular Motors (AMMs) are synthetic molecules that convert energy into controlled motion to drive a system out of equilibrium. These architectures possess unique structural properties and features, and that is what establishes their functional performance. MiCRoARTiS is a research program that aims at developing an experimental strategy to study and deepen our understanding of the structural dynamics of these systems using advanced methods based on rotational spectroscopy. The overarching objective is to establish the capability to harness the conformational dynamics of AMMs in the gas phase, under experimental conditions in which the system is not perturbed by external influences, so that the key mechanical steps and structural evolution of AMMs can be investigated with unprecedented detail. High-resolution rotational spectroscopy on isolated nano-motors in the gas phase is pre-eminently suited for this purpose, but the sheer size, low vapor pressures and instrument sensitivity have been prohibiting until now. In this project we propose to bring the promise of rotationally resolved spectroscopy to monitor the evolving applications in the field of AMMs. For that, key instrumental aspects will be developed to improve and augment control over sample delivery conditions in molecular jets, creating new opportunities to capture and study larger molecular libraries relevant in the realm of molecular nanotechnology and beyond.
The MiCRoARTiS research team is multi-faceted, including experimentalists, theoreticians and engineers in both physics and chemistry domains. The team is utilizing a recently installed high-performance broadband Molecular Rotational Resonance (MRR) spectrometer (2-8 GHz) as the core instrument for spectroscopic studies. Together they leverage skills in instrument development, theory and molecular modelling approaches to exploit the unparalleled capabilities of rotational spectroscopy to solve three-dimensional molecular structures in the gas phase. On the instrumental front, the team is developing a new pulsed sample delivery system for jet-cooled experiments comprising thermal and optical manipulation stages. This new tool is being developed in-house and will be coupled with the MRR spectrometer.
The new sample delivery system based on a pulsed solenoid valve will have the potential to unlock new molecular libraries, and consequently a new arena of structural problems, where rotational spectroscopy may contribute significantly. So far, the team has designed, constructed, and performed several tests with the first prototype. The preliminary results are very promising, and we expect to use this prototype as the foundation for the follow-up modifications and improvements planned for the next years. The results so far exceed the team’s initial expectations, and we foresee our efforts will have immediate impact on studies of AMMs, as well as in driving significant progress in other realms of gas phase spectroscopy and chemical physics. If our endeavors in this front are sucessfull, we anticipate the need to ensure additional research and demonstration of the valve-technology.