Scientists in the Physical Chemistry Division of CSIR-NCL use sophisticated principles of physical and organic chemistry to delineate the origin of forces that are responsible for promoting sluggish organic reactions. The group also focuses on developing and using new spectroscopic techniques to understand how things work at the atomic/molecular level. Research work exploring the use of room temperature ionic liquids as substitutes to volatile organic solvents during the synthesis of organic molecules has also been a strong area. This has generated lot of interest both in academia and industrial sectors.