Cinematic Chemistry: The Journey of Electron Microscopy from Molecular Movies to Molecular Statistics

Recent technological innovations in electron microscopy, such as aberration correctors, high-speed imaging cameras, and continuous sample rotation, have ushered in a new era where we can, for the first time, analyze the behavior of individual molecules. In this lecture, I will introduce the new paradigm of “cinematic chemistry,” which has emerged from the single-molecule atomic-resolution time-resolved electron microscopy (SMART-TEM). I will use examples from single-molecule thermodynamics and kinetics based on ultra-fast imaging of individual molecules and reaction events, in situ structural and statistical analysis of crystal growth, and the mechanisms behind organic crystal disorder during electron diffraction experiments that has long confused electron microscopists. Our recent study has shown that the kinetics of electron diffraction peak decay provides quantitative information about the degree of freedom of the molecules in a crystal.

References

1. M. Koshino, T. Tanaka, N. Solin, K. Suenaga, H. Isobe, and E. Nakamura, Science, 316, 853 (2007)
2. E. Nakamura, Acc. Chem. Res., 50, 1281–1292 (2017)
3. D. Liu, J. Fu, O. Elishav, M. Sakakibara, K. Yamanouchi, B. Hirshberg, T. Nakamuro, E. Nakamura, Science, 384, 1212-1219 (2024) 

Biographical note

Professor Eiichi Nakamura was born in Tokyo and received his B.S. and Ph.D. degrees from the Tokyo Institute of Technology. After completing postdoctoral research at Columbia University, he returned to his alma mater as an Assistant Professor in 1980. In 1995, he joined the University of Tokyo, where he is currently the University Professor and holds the Molecular Technology Innovation Endowed Chair. His research spans a wide range of fields, including synthetic and physical chemistry of organic and inorganic materials, with a particular focus on their functional properties. In 2007, he introduced the use of atomic resolution transmission electron microscopy for the study of molecular motions and reactions at the single-molecule level. Prof. Nakamura’s contributions have been recognized with  numerous awards and honors, including being named an Honorary Foreign Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2008), receiving the Medal with Purple Ribbon from His Majesty the Emperor (2009), the Arthur C. Cope Scholar Award from the American Chemical Society (2010), the 55th Fujiwara Award from the Fujiwara Foundation in Japan (2014), the Centenary Prize from the Royal Society of Chemistry (2014), and the Order of the Sacred Treasure from His Majesty the Emperor (2024).

For inquiries contact: oist_president@oist.jp