The Role of Multiple Chiral Centers in Photoelectron Circular Dichroism

This is a PhD research project in Physics. The experimental aims are to investigate photoelectron circular dichroism (PECD) in chiral molecules (i.e. molecules exhibiting distinct forms that are non-superimposable mirror images). Chirality is hugely important in chemistry and biology, since many of the building blocks of life display this property - with one handedness always preferred. Living organisms, for example, use only left-handed amino acids and right-handed sugars, and the fundamental origin of this phenomenon remains one of the great unanswered scientific questions. To observe PECD, chiral molecules will be irradiated with intense, circularly polarized light from a femtosecond laser. Electrons are then ejected asymmetrically from the molecule at angles that are dependent upon its handedness. By imaging the angular distribution of the electrons, the origin of this phenomenon can be investigated in detail. A particular focus will be the influence on PECD exerted by multiple chiral centers within a single molecule, something that has not yet been studied to any significant extent.