Absolute enantioselective separation: optical activity ex machina

The paper describes methodology of using three independent macroscopic factors affecting molecular orientation to accomplish separation of a racemic mixture without the presence of any other chiral compounds, i. e., absolute enantioselective separation (AES) which is an extension of a concept of applying these factors to absolute asymmetric synthesis. The three factors may be applied simultaneously or, if their effects can be retained, consecutively. The resulting three mutually orthogonal or near orthogonal directors constitute a true chiral influence and their scalar triple product is the measure of the chirality of the system. AES can be executed in a chromatography-like microfluidic process in the presence of an electric field. It may be carried out on a chemically modified flat surface, a monolithic polymer column made of a mesoporous material, each having imparted directional properties. Separation parameters were estimated for these media and possible implications for the natural homochirality are discussed.