Getting into shape? The interaction of molecules of biological interest with molecules of water: from simplicity to complexity

In the last few years, using strategies ‘borrowed’ from chemical physics and quantum chemistry, it has become possible to explore the architectures of small bio-active molecules, biomolecular building blocks and their hydrated clusters, in the gas phase, and to characterise quantitatively the local molecular interactions that determine their structures. This has come about through the development of highly selective and sensitive combinations of laser-based spectroscopy, coupled with mass spectrometry, and the ready accessibility of powerful ab initio quantum chemical computational codes for their interpretation. Theory provides the à la carte menu: experimental observation and analysis tells us which ones are actually chosen.