title: Sensitive chiral analysis via microwave three-wave mixing.
abstract: We demonstrate chirality-induced three-wave mixing in the microwave regime, using rotational transitions in cold gas-phase samples of 1,2-propanediol and 1,3-butanediol. We show that bulk three-wave mixing, which can only be realized in a chiral environment, provides a sensitive, species-selective probe of enantiomeric excess and is applicable to a broad class of molecules. The doubly resonant condition provides simultaneous identification of species and of handedness, which should allow sensitive chiral analysis even within a complex mixture.
authors.affiliation: Physics Department, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Patterson
authors.forename: John M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Doyle