[Fis] molecular discussion

Hi,

This is my first posting in this list. I am a chemist working on
laser interaction with materials. My interest on information is basically
related to the analysis of molecular systems, so I am delighted with the
current discussion on molecular recognition. In my opinion, the electronic
interactions play an essential role in any 'recognition' phenomena. Any
instance of recognition involves changes in the electronic structure of the
participant molecular partners: so, basically, the making or breaking of
what we define as 'chemical bonds'.

Then comes my question: do we really understand "the chemical bond"
concept? I mean, do we have a solid theoretical bridge in between the
principles of quantum mechanics and the simplified views of chemists
(ionic, covalent, van der Waals, metalic... bond types)? Shouldn't this
very classification be questioned?

If we want to understand molecular recognition as a foundation of the
informational phenomena of living beings, we have to discuss first the very
roots of that phenomenon.

Twenty years ago, like most chemists, I shared the view that chemical
structures were all 'balls and sticks'. Now I think we have to explore a
new (informational?) approach beyond the limitations and the very few
'model systems' analyzed by quantum mechanics.

best regards

Xerman

PS. My greetings to Shu-Kun for his very interesting papers on molecular
recognition.

Xermán de la Fuente
Instituto de Ciencia de Materiales de Aragón
CSIC-Universidad de Zaragoza
Laboratorio de Procesado de Materiales por Láser
María de Luna, 3 50018 Zaragoza
Tel. 976.76.25.27 ó 607.28.20.07
Fax 976.76.19.57
email: xerman@posta.unizar.es

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Received on Tue Jul 1 18:18:23 2003