Role of Symmetry in Vibrational Strong Coupling

Our latest paper is online and open access in Angewandte Chemie. We explore and reveal the critical role of molecular symmetry in vibrational strong coupling (VSC) in the case of a charge-transfer (CT) complexation reaction. We show indeed that VSC induces large changes in the equilibrium constant of the mesitylene-I2 CT complex, which can be either enhanced or suppressed depending only on the symmetry of the
vibration coupled to the vacuum electromagnetic field.