Spiers Memorial Lecture - Stereochemistry and control in molecular reaction dynamics

The evolving understanding of the stereodynamics of atomic and molecular reactions has led, quite naturally, to the evolution of strategies for their control. The excitement of designing reaction control machinery has captured the imagination of many theoreticians, who aspire to becoming molecular quantum 'mechanics' and, at the same time, the challenge of implementing their ideas is also exciting many reaction dynamical 'engineers'. A key tool is provided by the laser, and the Discussion which this lecture introduces, could equally well have been titled 'Laser control of chemical reactions'. The Lecture provides a survey of the current status of stereodynamics and control, principally of bimolecular reactions. It includes a review of strategies for the passive control of chemical reactions evolving "under their own steam'', and of their stereodynamics, and of strategies for their active control under the influence of continuous wave or pulsed optical fields, where reactions are "made to dance according to the theoreticians' and increasingly, the experimenters' tune''.