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Properties of Enantiomers and Optical Activity

Properties of Enantiomers and Optical Activity

It is essential to understand the difference between chiral and achiral interactions and the implications thereof in optical activity and their applications. Just as our feet, which are chiral, interact uniquely with chiral objects, such as a pair of shoes, but identically with achiral socks, enantiomers of a molecule exhibit different properties only when they interact with other chiral media. An example of a significant implication from this facet is the phenomenon known as optical activity,...

Stereoisomerism

Stereoisomerism

Isomerism in Complexes
Isomers are different chemical species that have the same chemical formula.
Transition metal complexes often exist as geometric isomers, in which the same atoms are connected through the same types of bonds but with differences in their orientation in space. Coordination complexes with two different ligands in the cis and trans positions from a ligand of interest form isomers. For example, the octahedral [Co(NH3)4Cl2]+ ion has two isomers (Figure 1) In the cis...

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.

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...

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...

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...

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Updated: Apr 1, 2026

A Micropatterning Assay for Measuring Cell Chirality

A Micropatterning Assay for Measuring Cell Chirality

Published on: March 11, 2022

Lateral chirality-sorting optical forces.

Amaury Hayat¹, J P Balthasar Mueller², Federico Capasso²

¹School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138; École Polytechnique, Palaiseau 91120, France.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

|October 11, 2015

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Lateral optical forces from evanescent waves can sort chiral particles. These forces, driven by spin angular momentum, offer a new method for passive chirality spectroscopy.

Keywords:

chirality optical forces optical spin optical spin-momentum locking optical spin–orbit interaction

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Area of Science:

Optics
Nanotechnology
Chirality Studies

Background:

Evanescent waves possess spin angular momentum.
Optical forces are crucial for manipulating micro- and nanoparticles.
Chiral particles exhibit unique optical properties.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the lateral optical forces exerted by evanescent waves on chiral particles.
To explore the potential of these forces for chirality sorting and spectroscopy.
To compare the strength of these forces with other predicted sideways optical forces.

Main Methods:

Theoretical analysis of optical forces generated by evanescent waves.
Modeling the interaction between evanescent waves and chiral particles.
Investigating the role of chiral polarizability in determining force direction and strength.

Main Results:

Evanescent waves induce lateral optical forces on chiral particles.
These forces act in directions without field gradients or wave propagation.
The direction and strength of the forces are dependent on the particle's chiral polarizability.
The calculated forces are significantly stronger than other predicted sideways optical forces.

Conclusions:

Lateral optical forces from evanescent waves provide a novel mechanism for manipulating chiral particles.
These forces enable passive chirality sorting and may be applicable to chirality spectroscopy.
The unique properties of these forces open new avenues in optical manipulation and sensing.