Mode-Specific Chemistry through Vibrational Strong Coupling (or A Wish Come True)

Vibrational strong coupling offers newfound potential to affect chemical processes and represents a wholly new approach to catalysis. While this presents extraordinary opportunities in the areas of product-selective synthesis, pharmaceutical design and yield, energy generation and storage, and unique optical devices, there are a number of important obstacles, including a lack of mechanistic understanding, unconventional or misleading spectroscopic interpretations, and a shortage of corroborating evidence. Here, we present our perspective on opportunities, obstacles, and the most pressing work to be completed in order to establish the significant but challenging new field of quantum optical chemistry.