Researchers discover new class of chemical reaction
Monday, August 14, 2017 - 10:22
in Physics & Chemistry
August 14, 2017—A new study led by Michael P. Burke, assistant professor of mechanical engineering at Columbia Engineering, has identified the significance of a new class of chemical reactions involving three molecules that each participate in the breaking and forming of chemical bonds. The reaction of three different molecules is enabled by an "ephemeral collision complex," formed from the collision of two molecules, which lives long enough to collide with a third molecule.