Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 21, 2026

Microscopic Visualization of Porous Nanographenes Synthesized through a Combination of Solution and On-Surface Chemistry
Published on: March 4, 2021
Chiral recognition of 2-alkyl alcohols with porphyrin J-nanoaggregates at the liquid-liquid interface
Hitoshi Watarai1, Koji Mitani, Nanami Morooka
1Institute for NanoScience Design, Osaka University, 1-3 Machikaneyama, Toyonaka, Osaka 560-8531, Japan. watarai@chem.sci.osaka-u.ac.jp
Abstract:
The J-aggregate of diprotonated tetraphenylporphyrin (H(4)TPP(2+)) formed at the dodecane-water interface showed circular dichroism spectra corresponding to the chirality of 2-alkyl alcohols, longer than 2-butanol, added to the dodecane phase. The phenomenon suggested the preferential interaction between the nano-sized J-aggregates and the chiral alcohols at the interface, and provided a potential use of the J-nanoaggregate as a chiral recognition probe.
Related Concept Videos
Prochirality
Reduction of Alkenes: Asymmetric Catalytic Hydrogenation
The metal catalyst used can be either heterogeneous or homogeneous. When hydrogenation of an alkene generates a chiral center, a pair of enantiomeric products is expected to form. However, an enantiomeric excess of one of the products can be facilitated using an enantioselective reaction or an...
Regioselectivity and Stereochemistry of Acid-Catalyzed Hydration
Chirality at Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Sulfur
A consequence of chirality is the need for enantiomeric resolution. While this is theoretically possible for all...
Chirality
Chiral objects exhibit a sense of handedness when they interact with another chiral object. For example, our left foot can only fit in the left shoe and not in the right shoe. Achiral objects — objects that have...

