Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 18, 2026

Controlling the Size, Shape and Stability of Supramolecular Polymers in Water
Published on: August 2, 2012
Chiral Supramolecular Nanoarchitectures from Macroscopic Mechanical Rotations: Effects on Enantioselective
Mizuki Kuroha1, Shohei Nambu1, Shingo Hattori1,2
1Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo, 4-6-1 Komaba, Meguro-ku, Tokyo, 153-8505, Japan.
Abstract:
Fluid dynamics, resulting from the macroscopic mechanical rotation of either a rotary evaporator or a magnetic stirrer, has been shown to selectively induce one of two enantiomers (mirror-image structures) in certain nanoscale supramolecules. As an alternative to giving a chiral twist to synthesized supramolecules or polymers, it is a challenge to reproducibly prepare chiral species by only using macroscopic mechanical rotations. Demonstrated here is a highly reproducible method for rotary-evaporation-induced enantioselective H-aggregation of achiral phthalocyanines. Chiral induction mechanisms are proposed by using the chiroptical-sign-based absolute structures. These results will provide insight to the origin of the homochirality of life, and serves as a pioneering study in a novel scientific field in terms of admixing nanoscale molecular chemistry and macroscopic fluid dynamics.
More Related Videos
09:22Self-assembling Morphologies Obtained from Helical Polycarbodiimide Copolymers and Their Triazole Derivatives
Published on: February 7, 2017
06:35Construction and Systematical Symmetric Studies of a Series of Supramolecular Clusters with Binary or Ternary Ammonium Triphenylacetates
Published on: February 15, 2016
Related Concept Videos
Chirality in Nature
Prochirality
Chirality at Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Sulfur
A consequence of chirality is the need for enantiomeric resolution. While this is theoretically possible for all...
Stereoisomerism
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
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...
Properties of Enantiomers and Optical Activity