Skip to main content
Go to the home page of the European Commission (opens in new window)
English English
CORDIS - EU research results
CORDIS

A New Strategy for Vibronic Spectroscopy of Radicals

Project description

Characterizing radicals with high resolution vibronic spectroscopy

Free radicals are reactive molecules with unpaired electrons. This open shell electronic configuration makes them notoriously difficult to study. As reactive intermediates, they are usually short lived and very seldom isolated, and their quantum mechanical behavior is challenging. The EU-funded RadSpec project aims to provide answers to longstanding questions about the quantum mechanical and chemical behavior of both known and unknown reactive intermediates using vibronic spectroscopy methods. Project results are expected to significantly impact on a number of fields including combustion, atmospheric chemistry, polymerisation, plasma chemistry, biochemistry, and many other chemical processes.

Objective

This proposal aims to develop a novel strategy for high resolution vibronic spectroscopy of radicals, with
unprecedented sensitivity, specificity, and applicability. The proposed scheme will provide answers to
longstanding quantum mechanical questions about non-adiabatic dynamics, and, in combination with a
unique, recently developed transparent microreactor source of reactive molecules, enable the pursuit of
unknown reactive intermediates.
Radicals and transient reactive intermediates are centrally important to chemistry but notoriously difficult
to study. The proposer has recently led several successful experimental and theoretical efforts directed
at molecules and transition states thought to be extremely difficult if not impossible to characterize. Here
we propose to launch a revolutionary approach to spectroscopy of these important species, exploiting a
key insight into dissociation dynamics on top of elements of state of the art laser spectroscopy techniques
in the infrared, ultraviolet, and vacuum ultraviolet to forge a new universal method. It possesses the high
sensitivity and mass selectivity of ion detection, while simultaneously being multidimensional and fully
rovibronic in scope to extract the maximum possible information about coupled nuclear and electronic
dynamics.
We anticipate that this advance will also be of great interest and utility to a broad swath of researchers
in related fields, such as combustion, atmospheric chemistry, and surface science, who require the ability
to track rare but reactive species. The nitrate and cyclopentadienyl radicals will initially be targeted as
particularly important examples, and we also plan to hunt for as yet unobserved reactive intermediates
using our new spectroscopic scheme alongside the flexibility of our molecular source to rationally explore
chemical phase space.

Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)

CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.

You need to log in or register to use this function

Keywords

Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)

Programme(s)

Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.

Topic(s)

Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.

Funding Scheme

Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.

ERC-STG - Starting Grant

See all projects funded under this funding scheme

Call for proposal

Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.

(opens in new window) ERC-2019-STG

See all projects funded under this call

Host institution

BEN-GURION UNIVERSITY OF THE NEGEV
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 1 687 500,00
Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

€ 1 687 500,00

Beneficiaries (1)

My booklet 0 0