Observation of Rayleigh optical activity for chiral molecules: a new chiroptical tool

Duncan McArthur; Emmanouil I. Alexakis; Andrew R. Puente; Rebecca McGonigle; Andrew J. Love; Prasad Polavarapu; Laurence D. Barron; Lewis E. MacKenzie; Aidan S. Arnold; Robert P. Cameron

doi:10.48550/arXiv.2508.02696

Observation of Rayleigh optical activity for chiral molecules: a new chiroptical tool

Duncan McArthur, Emmanouil I. Alexakis, Andrew R. Puente, Rebecca McGonigle, Andrew J. Love, Prasad Polavarapu, Laurence D. Barron, Lewis E. MacKenzie, Aidan S. Arnold, Robert P. Cameron

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Abstract

By measuring a small circularly polarized component in the scattered light, we report the first observation of Rayleigh optical activity (RayOA) for typical chiral molecules, namely the two enantiomers of α-pinene. Our work validates fundamental theoretical predictions made over fifty years ago and expands the chiroptical toolkit.

Original language	English
Place of Publication	Ithaca, NY
Number of pages	2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2508.02696
Publication status	Published - 26 Jul 2025

Funding

RPC gratefully acknowledges the support of a Royal Society University Research Fellowship (URF\R1\191243, URF\R\241008, RF\ERE\210170, RF\ERE\231130), and EPSRC DTP (EP/R513349/1).

Keywords

Rayleigh optical activity
chiral molecules
chiroptics
α-pinene

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10.48550/arXiv.2508.02696Licence: CC BY 4.0

McArthur-etal-arXiv-2025-Observation-of-Rayleigh-optical-activity-for-chiral-moleculesFinal published version, 596 KBLicence: CC BY 4.0

1 Article

Observation of Rayleigh optical activity for chiral molecules: a new chiroptical tool
McArthur, D., Alexakis, E. I., Puente, A. R., McGonigle, R., Love, A. J., Polavarapu, P. L., Barron, L. D., MacKenzie, L. E., Arnold, A. S. & Cameron, R. P., 25 Dec 2025, In: Journal of Physical Chemistry A. 129, 51, p. 11884-11887 2 p.
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abstract = "By measuring a small circularly polarized component in the scattered light, we report the first observation of Rayleigh optical activity (RayOA) for typical chiral molecules, namely the two enantiomers of α-pinene. Our work validates fundamental theoretical predictions made over fifty years ago and expands the chiroptical toolkit.",

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AU - McGonigle, Rebecca

AU - Love, Andrew J.

AU - Polavarapu, Prasad

AU - Barron, Laurence D.

AU - MacKenzie, Lewis E.

AU - Arnold, Aidan S.

AU - Cameron, Robert P.

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AB - By measuring a small circularly polarized component in the scattered light, we report the first observation of Rayleigh optical activity (RayOA) for typical chiral molecules, namely the two enantiomers of α-pinene. Our work validates fundamental theoretical predictions made over fifty years ago and expands the chiroptical toolkit.

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KW - chiral molecules

KW - chiroptics

KW - α-pinene

U2 - 10.48550/arXiv.2508.02696

DO - 10.48550/arXiv.2508.02696

M3 - Working Paper/Preprint

BT - Observation of Rayleigh optical activity for chiral molecules

CY - Ithaca, NY

ER -

Observation of Rayleigh optical activity for chiral molecules: a new chiroptical tool

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Observation of Rayleigh optical activity for chiral molecules: a new chiroptical tool

Cite this