{"id":662382,"date":"2025-08-08T10:10:28","date_gmt":"2025-08-08T14:10:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/?p=662382"},"modified":"2025-08-08T10:59:54","modified_gmt":"2025-08-08T14:59:54","slug":"quantum-chemistry-theory-vibrational-strong-coupling-662382","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/quantum-chemistry-theory-vibrational-strong-coupling-662382\/","title":{"rendered":"New theory may solve quantum \u2018jigsaw puzzle\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

The theory explains how quantum environments can steer chemical reactions\u2014speeding them up or slowing them down without adding heat or light.<\/h2>\n

In the past, chemists have used temperature, pressure, light, and other chemical ways to speed up or slow down chemical reactions.<\/p>\n

Now, researchers at the University of Rochester<\/a> have developed a theory that explains a different way to control chemical reactions\u2014one that doesn\u2019t rely on heat or light but instead on the quantum environment surrounding the molecules.<\/p>\n

In a paper<\/a> published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society<\/em>, the researchers\u2014including Frank Huo<\/a>, the Dean and Laura Marvin Endowed Professor in Physical Chemistry in Rochester\u2019s Department of Chemistry<\/a> and graduate students Sebastian Montillo and Wenxiang Ying\u2014argue that traditional theories used to predict how fast chemical reactions occur may not fully capture what happens under certain quantum light-matter interaction conditions. To address this, they developed a new theory showing how quantum effects\u2014specifically, an effect called vibrational strong coupling (VSC)\u2014can influence chemical reactions.<\/p>\n

This phenomenon has been observed in experiments, but the new theory helps clarify how it works and could pave the way for more precise, energy-efficient chemical processes, with potential applications in manufacturing, medicine, and advanced materials.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur work may provide the first-ever theory that describes the experimentally observed phenomena,” Huo says. \u201cIt tells us that the quantum environment alone can influence chemistry in ways we didn\u2019t think were possible and opens the door for new materials and technologies.\u201d<\/p>\n

Solving a quantum chemistry puzzle<\/strong><\/h3>\n

In 2016, a group of scientists discovered something surprising: They were able to change how fast a chemical reaction occurs by putting the reacting molecules in a tiny space between two gold mirrors, only millionths of a meter apart. This created an environment\u2014called an optical microcavity\u2014where the quantum energy and electromagnetic fields in the space itself could couple with the natural vibrations of the molecules and slow down or speed up the chemical reactions between the molecules. The effect is called vibrational strong coupling.<\/p>\n

Since then, VSC has baffled researchers.<\/p>\n

\"Illustration
BETTER LIVING THROUGH SYNTHETIC CHEMISTRY:<\/strong> Inside an optical microcavity\u2014formed by two gold mirrors just millionths of a meter apart\u2014a proton (white) transfers from a donor atom (red) to an acceptor atom (blue), surrounded by water molecules. (University of Rochester illustration \/ Sebastian Montillo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For the past five years, Huo and his colleagues have been developing a theory that explains the phenomenon so that VSC can be understood, utilized, and controlled. Using computer simulations and quantum mechanics principles, they developed their new theory, which explains why the VSC effect happens or doesn\u2019t happen, how changing the strength of the interaction changes the speed of the reaction, and what it could mean for the future of chemistry.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis was like solving a challenging jigsaw puzzle, where all of the puzzling features of VSC finally fit neatly together,\u201d Huo says. \u201cThis new strategy of VSC can selectively slow down or speed up a reaction, offering a paradigm shift in synthetic chemistry that could significantly impact drug development and materials synthesis.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Air Force Office of Scientific Research and the National Science Foundation supported this research.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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