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Chirality in Nature

Chirality in Nature

Chirality is the most intriguing yet essential facet of nature, governing life’s biochemical processes and precision. It can be observed from a snail shell pattern in a macroscopic world to an amino acid, the minutest building block of life. Most of the snails around the world have right-coiled shells because of the intrinsic chirality in their genes. All the amino acids present in the human body exist in an enantiomerically pure state, except for glycine - the sole achiral amino acid.

Prochirality

Prochirality

The concept of prochirality leads to the nomenclature of the individual faces of a molecule and plays a crucial role in the enantioselective reaction. It is a concept where two or more achiral molecules react to produce chiral products. A typical process is the reaction of an achiral ketone to generate a chiral alcohol. Here, the achiral reactant reacts with an achiral reducing agent, sodium borohydride, to generate an equimolar mixture of the chiral enantiomers of the product. For example, an...

Chirality

Chirality

Chirality is a term that describes the lack of mirror symmetry in an object. In other words, chiral objects cannot be superposed on their mirror images. For example, our feet are chiral, as the mirror image of the left foot, the right foot, cannot be superposed on the left foot.
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...

Molecules with Multiple Chiral Centers

Molecules with Multiple Chiral Centers

Molecules that possess multiple chiral centers can afford a large number of stereoisomers. For instance, while some molecules like 2-butanol have one chiral center, defined as a tetrahedral carbon atom with four different substituents attached, several molecules like butane-2,3-diol have multiple chiral centers. A simple formula to predict the number of stereoisomers possible for a molecule with n chiral centers is 2n. However, there can be a lower number where some of the stereoisomers are...

Racemic Mixtures and the Resolution of Enantiomers

Racemic Mixtures and the Resolution of Enantiomers

A racemic mixture, or racemate, is an equimolar mixture of enantiomers of a molecule that can be separated using their unique interaction with chiral molecules or media. Racemic mixtures are denoted by the (±)- prefix. This ‘optical rotation descriptor’ applies to the whole solution of a racemic mixture rather than a specific stereoisomer. Enantiomers typically have the same physical and chemical properties. Hence, they are not easily separable. However, enantiomers can exhibit...

Chirality at Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Sulfur

Chirality at Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Sulfur

Chirality is most prevalent in carbon-based tetrahedral compounds, but this important facet of molecular symmetry extends to sp3-hybridized nitrogen, phosphorus and sulfur centers, including trivalent molecules with lone pairs. Here, the lone pair behaves as a functional group in addition to the other three substituents to form an analogous tetrahedral center that can be chiral.
A consequence of chirality is the need for enantiomeric resolution. While this is theoretically possible for all...

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Apr 29, 2026

Interfacial Molecular-level Structures of Polymers and Biomacromolecules Revealed via Sum Frequency Generation Vibrational Spectroscopy

Interfacial Molecular-level Structures of Polymers and Biomacromolecules Revealed via Sum Frequency Generation Vibrational Spectroscopy

Published on: August 13, 2019

Interfacial chiral selection by bulk species.

Hua Dong¹, Jordi Ignés-Mullol, Josep Claret

¹Departament de Química Física, Universitat de Barcelona, Martí i Franquès 1, 08028 Barcelona, Catalunya (Spain).

Chemistry (Weinheim an Der Bergstrasse, Germany)

|May 15, 2014

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Chiral molecules spontaneously form ordered structures from achiral building blocks when interacting with chiral substances. This self-assembly process, influenced by electrostatics and hydrophobics, can be controlled by physical forces like stirring.

Keywords:

Langmuir monolayers amino acids chirality supramolecular chemistry surface chemistry

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A Micropatterning Assay for Measuring Cell Chirality

A Micropatterning Assay for Measuring Cell Chirality

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Last Updated: Apr 29, 2026

Interfacial Molecular-level Structures of Polymers and Biomacromolecules Revealed via Sum Frequency Generation Vibrational Spectroscopy

Interfacial Molecular-level Structures of Polymers and Biomacromolecules Revealed via Sum Frequency Generation Vibrational Spectroscopy

Published on: August 13, 2019

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A Micropatterning Assay for Measuring Cell Chirality

A Micropatterning Assay for Measuring Cell Chirality

Published on: March 11, 2022

Area of Science:

Supramolecular chemistry
Chirality studies
Soft matter physics

Background:

Chiral selection is crucial in biological systems.
Understanding how achiral molecules acquire chirality is a fundamental scientific challenge.
Self-assembled soft monolayers offer a model system for studying chiral induction.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate chiral selection in achiral amphiphile monolayers.
To elucidate the mechanisms driving the emergence of chirality.
To explore the influence of physical forces on chiral supramolecular aggregation.

Main Methods:

Statistical measurement of enantiomorphic excess.
Optical microscopy for resolving orientational chirality.
Controlled manipulation of electrostatic and hydrophobic interactions.
Application of vortical stirring to disrupt self-assembly.

Main Results:

Achiral amphiphiles formed chiral domains upon interaction with chiral species.
Electrostatic and hydrophobic interactions were key mediators of chiral induction.
Macroscopic physical forces, such as stirring, could suppress or reverse the observed chirality.
Hydrodynamic effects were shown to play a significant role in supramolecular aggregation.

Conclusions:

Chiral selection can occur in achiral self-assembled systems through interaction with chiral environments.
The process is governed by a combination of chemical (electrostatic, hydrophobic) and physical (hydrodynamic) factors.
This work provides insights into the fundamental mechanisms of chirality emergence in soft matter.