Novel reaction microscope scheme targets biologically relevant molecules

Researchers in Germany and the US have upgraded the performance of a reaction microscope so that the technique—known as Cold Target Recoil Ion Momentum Spectroscopy, or COLTRIMS for short—can be extended to distinguish between isomers with two carbon centres. Having demonstrated the applicability of the approach on a synthetic prototype molecule a few years ago, the advance allows the team to begin exploring more complex structures such as those found in healthcare, and further devel