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Updated: Mar 15, 2026

Free Radicals in Chemical Biology: from Chemical Behavior to Biomarker Development
Published on: April 15, 2013
Memory of chirality in reactions involving monoradicals
Christian Simon Gloor1, Fabrice Dénès2, Philippe Renaud1
1a Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry , University of Bern , Bern , Switzerland.
Abstract:
The effects of memory of chirality (MoC) in reactions involving monoradical species are reviewed here. Reactions involving a nonracemic chiral starting material bearing a single stereogenic element such as a chiral center or chiral axis directly involved in the new bond formation are discussed. These reactions lead to a nonracemic product via an intermediate susceptible to rapid racemization. Memory of chirality has been observed in cyclic radicals, aryl, ester/amide substituted acyclic radicals, and benzylic radicals at temperatures up to 130 °C.
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