What is "femtochemistry"

n. (context chemistry English) the study of chemical reactions on a very short time scale, often using pulsed lasers

n. the branch of chemistry that studies elementary (often very fast) chemical reactions as they occur; the experimental methods are often based on the use of femtosecond laser pulses

Femtochemistry is the area of physical chemistry that studies chemical reactions on extremely short timescales, approximately 10 seconds (one femtosecond, hence the name). The steps in some reactions occur in the femtosecond timescale and sometimes in attosecond timescales, and will sometimes form intermediate products. These intermediate products cannot always be deduced from observing the starting and end products. Femtochemistry allows exploration of which chemical reactions take place, and investigates why some reactions occur but not others. Application of femtochemistry in biological studies has helped to elucidate the conformational dynamics of stem-loop RNA structures.

Many publications have discussed the possibility of controlling chemical reactions by this method, but this remains controversial. In 1999, Ahmed H. Zewail received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his pioneering work in this field. Zewail’s technique uses flashes of laser light that last for a few femtoseconds.