(edit 2014-06-26: reformulated the question slightly):
It is very natural to think about molecules as consisting of nuclei and surrounding electron cloud.
Insight into the structure and fine details of the electron cloud would reveal much information about various properties of molecules.
But is it possible in practice? What is the most detailed information accesible to experiment?
For example, is it possible to see a node of an electron distribution ( corresponding to a node of an orbital )? What is the best resolution currently achieved and what methods are available routinely?
What about dynamics? Is it possible to track changes in electron density, while a chemical bond is being formed?
So, what I'm interested in is a list of experimental techniques employed to investigate electronic structure of atoms and molecules.
In answers, please, provide references for further reading.
Hi,
You can not view wavefunctions, only electron densities. See the work from IBM on metal atoms on surfaces where they image the electron densities in quantum corrals for example. You can get structural information from single crystal X-ray diffraction, infra-red spectroscopy for simple molecules (bond lengths etc) and from NMR to some degree. High level theory with the right corrections is often used to replace experiment, assuming it is accessable.
Best,
Peter
As for dynamics, I don't think there's real-time tracking of electron density as bonds are being formed yet, but ultrafast electron diffraction is quite a powerful technique for imaging nuclear motions during reactions. Here are some examples of this technique:
H. Jean-Ruel et al, J. Phys. Chem. A 2011, 115, 13158.
M. Gao et al, Nature 2013, 496, 343.
C. Ruan et al, PNAS 2001, 98, 7117,
Hello! Nice question and answers. I think ultrafast laser techniques available now combined with the study of interferences may help us in the near future to follow the electronic distribution dynamics in atoms and molecules.
As an example of the electronic distribution in atoms, this is a paper about the nodal structure in hydrogen atoms:
'Hydrogen Atoms under Magnification: Direct Observation of the Nodal Structure of Stark States', Physical Review Letters 110, 213001 (2013); A. S. Stodolna, A. Rouzee, F. Lepine, S. Cohen, F. Robicheaux, A. Gijsbertsen,1 J. H. Jungmann, C. Bordas, and M. J. J. Vrakking,
and this one is about breaking bonds in a (negatively charged) molecule:
THE JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL PHYSICS 123, 054329 (2005); Richard Mabbs, Kostyantyn Pichugin, and Andrei Sanov.
I hope to be useful to you, please ask me if anything is not clear.
Sincerely yours,
omar
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