Dynamics of chemical change

Professor Sven L.M. Schroeder, Scientific Theme Lead

The RUEDI facility will open new perspectives for the control of chemical transformations for research across all science and engineering disciplines, including applications in energy, healthcare, environmental, materials, life sciences and medical research.

Facility users will have unprecedented capabilities to investigate and understand molecular scale dynamics in-vivo, in-situ and under operando conditions with RUEDI uniquely investigating dynamics on the time scale of individual bond formation in large complex systems to advance the UK as a world leader in new technologies.

During the preliminary consultation phase, the uniqueness of RUEDI was described, with a focus on how instruments will probe the chemical and structural dynamics on ultrafast timescales. These provide insight into the elementary steps of transformations on molecular time and length scales, providing a deep understanding of the molecular basis for chemical transformations, and by extension, biological function. Recent studies at international ultrafast electron diffraction facilities have, for example, examined hydrogen bond dynamics and the conformational basis for stereoselectivity.

Collectively, delegates from the event identified a representative set of challenges that illustrate the types of experiments that could be performed during the initial testing and operations phase of the RUEDI facility. As the community of users grows and the instrument comes on-line, the specific capabilities of the RUEDI facility and its associated experimental ecosystem will provide unparalleled insights.

The output report from the event was used to inform the full conceptual design review.