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Related Concept Videos

Chirality02:25

Chirality

29.2K
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...
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Chirality in Nature02:30

Chirality in Nature

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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.
16.9K
Molecules with Multiple Chiral Centers02:25

Molecules with Multiple Chiral Centers

14.9K
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...
14.9K
Chirality at Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Sulfur02:30

Chirality at Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Sulfur

6.9K
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...
6.9K
Reaction Mechanisms03:06

Reaction Mechanisms

30.6K
Chemical reactions often occur in a stepwise fashion, involving two or more distinct reactions taking place in a sequence. A balanced equation indicates the reacting species and the product species, but it reveals no details about how the reaction occurs at the molecular level. The reaction mechanism (or reaction path) provides details regarding the precise, step-by-step process by which a reaction occurs.
For instance, the decomposition of ozone appears to follow a mechanism with two steps:
30.6K
Mechanical Protein Functions01:58

Mechanical Protein Functions

5.5K
Proteins perform many mechanical functions in a cell. These proteins can be classified into two general categories- proteins that generate mechanical forces and proteins that are subjected to mechanical forces. Proteins providing mechanical support to the structure of the cell, such as keratin, are subjected to mechanical force, whereas proteins involved in cell movement and transport of molecules across cell membranes, such as an ion pump, are examples of generating mechanical force. 
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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jan 24, 2026

A Micropatterning Assay for Measuring Cell Chirality
08:07

A Micropatterning Assay for Measuring Cell Chirality

Published on: March 11, 2022

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Mechanical chiral resolution.

Vincent Marichez1, Alessandra Tassoni, Robert P Cameron

  • 1Université de Strasbourg, CNRS, ISIS, 8 allée Gaspard Monge, 67000 Strasbourg, France. hermans@unistra.fr.

Soft Matter
|June 1, 2019
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Mechanical forces significantly impact chiral objects across all scales, from macro to micro. Harnessing these interactions offers promising avenues for chiral resolution in soft matter and industry.

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Area of Science:

  • Physics and Materials Science
  • Focuses on the mechanical interactions of chiral objects.

Background:

  • Macroscopic chiral object interactions are well-understood (e.g., propellers).
  • At colloidal scales, Brownian motion often overshadows mechanical interactions.
  • The role of mechanical forces on small chiral objects is frequently overlooked.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To highlight the significant effects of mechanical interactions on chiral objects at all scales.
  • To explore methods for inducing and utilizing these mechanical interactions.
  • To emphasize the potential of mechanical chiral resolution in soft matter and industry.

Main Methods:

  • Review of established and novel methods for inducing mechanical interactions.
  • Discussion of forces including shearing surfaces, collisions, fluid flows, and electromagnetic forces.
  • Analysis of how these forces affect chiral object behavior.

Main Results:

  • Mechanical interactions are significant for chiral objects at all scales, not just macroscale.
  • Various external stimuli (mechanical, electrical, optical) can induce these interactions.
  • Chiral resolution via mechanical means is a viable and promising approach.

Conclusions:

  • Mechanical interactions play a crucial role in the behavior of chiral objects, irrespective of scale.
  • Developing methods for mechanical chiral resolution can unlock new applications in soft matter and industry.
  • Further research into mechanical chiral resolution is warranted given its potential.