DURHAM, N.C., March 14 (UPI) -- Duke University chemists, using a chain of molecules as an infinitesimal lanyard, have found they can speed a complex chemical reaction.
The unusual manipulative technique used on a chemical bond about to break can reveal previously unknown details about the evolution of such two-step bond reactions, said Duke Assistant Professor Stephen Craig. It might ultimately aid efforts to develop new kinds of polymers that can "heal" themselves after tearing, he said.
Craig, doctoral student Farrell Kersey and former graduate student Wayne Yount described their discoveries in a research paper published online this month in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.
The research was funded by the National Science Foundation.
