Abstract
The prospect of studying state-to-state chemical reaction dynamics, with full control over all of the reaction parameters, is becoming a reality for a small number of systems. Thanks to the rapid development of new experimental techniques (alongside novel combinations of existing methods), an increasingly diverse range of reactants can be prepared under cold conditions and manipulated with external fields. These tools are enabling the study of reactions at previously inaccessible collision energies; the role of long-range forces and quantum effects are beginning to be experimentally probed-challenging the accuracy of theoretical predictions and fundamental models of reactivity. In this perspective article, we outline the key methodologies that are adopted for the study of cold and controlled reaction dynamics. We discuss the motivation for these studies, detail the progress made to date, and highlight the future prospects for the field.
Highlights
A major drive to study reactions at low temperatures has been the desire to understand the chemistry of the coldest parts of the Universe
Investigating the properties of reactions that take place in naturally-occurring cold environments is necessary in order to accurately model their chemistry. 1–10 Even many of the reactions postulated to be of astrochemical importance are yet to be experimentally measured under cold conditions
While the direct application to astrochemistry remains a motivation in many cases, there are numerous other advantages associated with studying reactions at low temperatures
Summary
A major drive to study reactions at low temperatures has been the desire to understand the chemistry of the coldest parts of the Universe. Long interaction times and perturbation-free environments (alongside sensitive detection methods) enable us to measure reaction properties such as rate coefficients, collision cross sections and branching ratios with exceptional precision. The key experimental methods used to achieve cold and controlled reaction conditions are discussed, accompanied by a description of the range of detection methods adopted to analyse the resulting products. As the goal of this work is to discuss cold and controlled chemical reaction dynamics, we focus on (predominantly) reactive collisions and on systems that involve at least one molecular species (i.e. systems involving exclusively atomic species are not explicitly considered). We limit ourselves to considering (primarily) gas-phase reactions; while there is a large and interesting body of research related to reactions at surfaces, such work is beyond the scope of this review
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