Real-time observation of bimodal proton transfer in acid-base pairs in water, " Science (2003), in press.

We present a unified description of the vector meson and dilepton production in elementary and in heavy ion reactions. The production of vector mesons (ρ, ω, φ) is described via the excitation of nucleon resonances (R). The theoretical framework is an extended vector meson dominance model (eVMD) for resonance decays R 7−→ NV with arbitrary spin which is covariant and kinematically complete. The...

The formation of complex organic molecules in a reactor filled with gaseous mixtures possibly reproducing the primitive terrestrial atmosphere and ocean demonstrated more than 50 years ago that inorganic synthesis of prebiotic molecules is possible, provided that some form of energy is provided to the system. After that groundbreaking experiment, gas-phase prebiotic molecules have been observed...

The high temperature decomposition kinetics of toluene and benzyl were investigated by combining a kinetic analysis with the ab initio/master equation study of new reaction channels. It was found that similarly to toluene, which decomposes to benzyl and phenyl losing atomic hydrogen and methyl, also benzyl decomposition proceeds through two channels with similar products. The first leads to the...

A catalytic redox reaction involving N2O and CO on size-selected copper cluster anions, Cun(-), was investigated in the gas phase using a guided ion-beam tandem mass spectrometer. When Cun(-) is exposed to a mixture of N2O and CO, CunO(-) is produced via the decomposition of N2O. Increase of the CO partial pressure results in the reproduction of Cun(-) and decrease of CunO(-) through the oxidat...

All topologically distinct linear mechanisms (Le., mechanisms containing one reaction intermediate on both the left-hand and right-hand sides) of chemical reactions involving up to 16 elementary steps, up to 12 intermediates, and up to 6 reaction routes were computer enumerated and generated. The methodology previously developed for classifying, coding, and analyzing the complexity of such mech...