Molecular clusters are aggregates of molecules that are held loosely together by non-covalent interactions. Clusters exhibit many fascinating phenomena, such as 'Magic Number' - for sepcific sizes of molecules within the cluster the result is an especially stable cluster.
Intra Cluster Bond Formation (ICBF)
refers to the possibility of forming bonds between neighboring molecules within a cluster. This process is not trivial: bond formation typically involves an energy barrier, thus, one needs to supply the cluster with energy for ICBF to occur. However, the energy can cause the cluster to evaporate.
Our group has, and continues to, performed key experiments related to peptide bond formation in amino acids.
Our ICBF results are fascinating in their own right, but are interesting both in the context of astrochemisty and of the origin of life - as a means of abiotically synthesizing the first bioloymers.
Finding Clusters Geometry
Read more on how to solve the difficult problem of finding the global minima for a clusters geometery.