New low-temperature chemical reaction explained
In all the centuries that humans have studied chemical reactions, just 36 basic types of reactions have been found. Now, thanks to the work of researchers at MIT and the University of Minnesota, a 37th type of reaction can be added to the list.The newly explained reaction — whose basic outlines had been known for three decades, but whose workings had never been understood in detail — is an important part of atmospheric reactions that lead to the formation of climate-affecting aerosols; biochemical reactions that may be important for human physiology; and combustion reactions in engines.The new analysis is explained in a paper by MIT graduate student Amrit Jalan, chemical engineering professor William Green, and six other researchers, published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.Stephen Klippenstein, a senior scientist at the Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois who was not involved in this research, says, “I think this may...