Controlling achiral and chiral properties with an electric field : a next generation QTAIM interpretation
Abstract
We used the recently introduced stress tensor trajectory Uσ space construction within the framework of next-generation quantum theory of atoms in molecules (NG-QTAIM) for a chirality investigation of alanine when subjected to a non-structurally distorting electric field. The resultant sliding of the axial-bond critical point (BCP) responded significantly, up to twice as much, in the presence of the applied electric field in comparison to its absence. The bond flexing, a measure of bond strain, was always lower by up to a factor of four in the presence of the electric field, depending on its direction and magnitude. An achiral character of up to 7% was found for alanine in the presence of the applied electric field. The achiral character was entirely absent in the presence of the lowest value of the applied electric field. Future applications, including molecular devices using left and right circularly polarized laser pulses, are briefly discussed.
Citation
Yu , W , Li , Z , Peng , Y , Feng , X , Xu , T , Fruchtl , H , van Mourik , T , Kirk , S R & Jenkins , S 2022 , ' Controlling achiral and chiral properties with an electric field : a next generation QTAIM interpretation ' , Symmetry , vol. 14 , no. 10 , 2075 . https://doi.org/10.3390/sym14102075
Publication
Symmetry
Status
Peer reviewed
ISSN
2073-8994Type
Journal article
Rights
Copyright: © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Description
Funding information: The Hunan Natural Science Foundation of China project gratefully acknowledged approval number: 2022JJ30029. The One Hundred Talents Foundation of Hunan Province is also gratefully acknowledged for the support of S.J. and S.R.K.Collections
Items in the St Andrews Research Repository are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.