Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

Chirality02:25

Chirality

29.7K
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...
29.7K
Chirality in Nature02:30

Chirality in Nature

17.3K
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.
17.3K
Chirality at Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Sulfur02:30

Chirality at Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Sulfur

7.0K
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...
7.0K
Molecules with Multiple Chiral Centers02:25

Molecules with Multiple Chiral Centers

15.2K
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...
15.2K
Acid Halides to Esters: Alcoholysis01:12

Acid Halides to Esters: Alcoholysis

4.1K
Alcoholysis is a nucleophilic acyl substitution reaction in which an alcohol functions as a nucleophile. Acid halides react with alcohol to produce esters. The mechanism proceeds in three steps:
4.1K
Esters to Alcohols: Hydride Reductions01:17

Esters to Alcohols: Hydride Reductions

4.8K
Esters are reduced to primary alcohols when treated with a strong reducing agent like lithium aluminum hydride. The reaction requires two equivalents of the reducing agent and proceeds via an aldehyde intermediate.
Lithium aluminum hydride is a source of hydride ions and functions as a nucleophile. The mechanism proceeds in three steps. Firstly, the nucleophilic hydride ion attacks the carbonyl carbon of the ester to form a tetrahedral intermediate. Subsequently, the carbonyl group re-forms,...
4.8K

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

The Sulfur Monoxide-Water Complex.

Journal of the American Chemical Society·2026
Same author

Assessing Benzene Dimer Interactions in Solution With a Molecular Balance.

Chemistry (Weinheim an der Bergstrasse, Germany)·2026
Same author

London Dispersion Favors <i>Cis</i> Selectivity in the Johnson-Corey-Chaykovsky Epoxidation.

The Journal of organic chemistry·2026
Same author

Synthesis of an <i>o</i>-Benzoquinone Arsenic Mononitride (As≡N) Complex and Its Reaction to Singlet Arsinonitrene.

Journal of the American Chemical Society·2026
Same author

Context Rules! Special Issue on "Physical Organic Chemistry: Never Out of Style".

The Journal of organic chemistry·2026
Same author

Highly Efficient Organocatalytic House-Meinwald Rearrangement for the Facile Synthesis of Aldehydes: Swift Access to Ibuprofen.

Chemistry (Weinheim an der Bergstrasse, Germany)·2025
Same journal

Total Synthesis and Structural Revision of Tetracyclic Diterpenoid (±)-Papililone A and (-)-Papililone A.

Chemistry (Weinheim an der Bergstrasse, Germany)·2026
Same journal

Light-Powered Atroposelective Ratcheting via Excited-State Donor-Acceptor Interactions.

Chemistry (Weinheim an der Bergstrasse, Germany)·2026
Same journal

Modular One-Pot Access to π-Expanded Tetrakis(Phenothiazinyl)-Silanes With Broadly Tunable Redox and Emission Properties.

Chemistry (Weinheim an der Bergstrasse, Germany)·2026
Same journal

pH-Tolerant Tripeptide Coacervates as Biomimetic Catalytic Microreactors.

Chemistry (Weinheim an der Bergstrasse, Germany)·2026
Same journal

Nano-Nickel Pinned Defective MoS<sub>2</sub> Heterostructures via Ball Milling for Improved Hydrogen Evolution.

Chemistry (Weinheim an der Bergstrasse, Germany)·2026
Same journal

Hollow NiCo-LDH Nanocage Derived From ZIF-67 as an Efficient Catalyst for the Thermal Decomposition of Ammonium Perchlorate.

Chemistry (Weinheim an der Bergstrasse, Germany)·2026
See all related articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Feb 10, 2026

A Micropatterning Assay for Measuring Cell Chirality
08:07

A Micropatterning Assay for Measuring Cell Chirality

Published on: March 11, 2022

2.7K

Making Glycine Methyl Ester Chiral.

Dennis Gerbig1, Sarina Desch1, Peter R Schreiner1

  • 1Institute of Organic Chemistry, Justus-Liebig University, Heinrich-Buff-Ring 17, 35392, Giessen, Germany.

Chemistry (Weinheim an Der Bergstrasse, Germany)
|May 26, 2018
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Simple glycine gains chirality from methyl lactate, showing induced optical activity in C-H bonds. This chirality transfer in icy comet conditions could explain the origin of life's molecular asymmetry.

Keywords:
chirality transferchirogenesismatrix isolationvibrational circular dichroismvibrational optical activity

More Related Videos

In vitro Methylation Assay to Study Protein Arginine Methylation
10:01

In vitro Methylation Assay to Study Protein Arginine Methylation

Published on: October 5, 2014

15.9K
Selective Depletion of Microglia from Cerebellar Granule Cell Cultures Using L-leucine Methyl Ester
08:10

Selective Depletion of Microglia from Cerebellar Granule Cell Cultures Using L-leucine Methyl Ester

Published on: July 7, 2015

9.1K

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Feb 10, 2026

A Micropatterning Assay for Measuring Cell Chirality
08:07

A Micropatterning Assay for Measuring Cell Chirality

Published on: March 11, 2022

2.7K
In vitro Methylation Assay to Study Protein Arginine Methylation
10:01

In vitro Methylation Assay to Study Protein Arginine Methylation

Published on: October 5, 2014

15.9K
Selective Depletion of Microglia from Cerebellar Granule Cell Cultures Using L-leucine Methyl Ester
08:10

Selective Depletion of Microglia from Cerebellar Granule Cell Cultures Using L-leucine Methyl Ester

Published on: July 7, 2015

9.1K

Area of Science:

  • Astrochemistry
  • Physical Chemistry
  • Origins of Life Research

Background:

  • Chirality, or 'handedness,' is fundamental to life, but its origins remain unclear.
  • Comets are potential reservoirs for prebiotic molecules, offering insights into early Earth conditions.
  • Understanding how chirality arises in extraterrestrial environments is crucial for origins of life theories.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate chirality transfer from a chiral molecule (methyl lactate) to an achiral molecule (glycine methyl ester).
  • To explore the potential for chiral imprinting in simulated cometary ice conditions.
  • To provide a mechanism for the generation of molecular chirality in space.

Main Methods:

  • Matrix isolation technique to simulate cometary ice environments.
  • Vibrational circular dichroism (VCD) spectroscopy to detect chirality.
  • Density Functional Theory (DFT) computations for theoretical analysis.

Main Results:

  • Glycine methyl ester exhibited induced vibrational optical activity upon complexation with methyl lactate.
  • Chirality was successfully transferred from methyl lactate to the methylene C-H bonds of glycine.
  • The findings demonstrate a viable pathway for generating chiral molecules in extraterrestrial ices.

Conclusions:

  • Chirality transfer is a plausible mechanism for creating molecular asymmetry in space.
  • This process could contribute to the prebiotic chiral imbalance observed in biological systems.
  • The study offers a new perspective on the extraterrestrial origins of homochirality.