Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 7, 2025
06:26
Orientational Transition in a Liquid Crystal Triggered by the Thermodynamic Growth of Interfacial Wetting Sheets
Published on: May 15, 2017
7.2K
Concentration-modulated global organizational chirality at the liquid/solid interface
Shu-Ying Li1, Ting Chen2,3, Qi Chen1
1Key Laboratory of Polyoxometalate and Reticular Material Chemistry of Ministry of Education, Faculty of Chemistry, Northeast Normal University Changchun 130024 P. R. China lisy878@nenu.edu.cn zhugs@nenu.edu.cn.
Chemical Science
|March 13, 2023
Summary
Achieving homochirality in molecular assemblies is now possible by controlling concentration at interfaces. Lower concentrations amplify chirality more effectively, enabling homochiral monolayer formation in mixed enantiomer systems.
Area of Science:
- Supramolecular Chemistry
- Chirality Studies
- Materials Science
Background:
- Homochirality in macroscopic assemblies and controlling organizational chirality present significant challenges.
- Understanding the fundamental principles governing chiral amplification is crucial for developing new chiral materials.
Purpose of the Study:
- To achieve homochirality in macroscopic assemblies using a novel approach.
- To investigate the role of molecular concentration in chiral amplification at liquid/solid interfaces.
- To develop a model for understanding cooperative equilibrium in chiral systems.
Main Methods:
- Employing the majority-rules principle combined with concentration-dependent molecular assembly.
- Utilizing liquid/solid interface for chiral amplification.
- Formulating a cooperative equilibrium model based on the Langmuir adsorption isotherm.
Main Results:
- Homochirality was successfully achieved by manipulating molecular concentration.
- Lower molecular concentrations in solution led to more efficient amplification of chirality.
- A homochiral monolayer was obtained by simply adjusting the molecular concentration in mixed enantiomer systems.
Conclusions:
- The study provides new insights into chiral amplification mechanisms in supramolecular assemblies.
- Modulating molecular concentration is a key factor in achieving homochirality.
- This work offers a simple yet effective method for creating homochiral monolayers from mixed enantiomer systems.
Related Concept Videos
02:30Chirality in Nature
13.6K
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.
13.6K
02:25Chirality
24.7K
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...
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...
24.7K
02:05Prochirality
3.9K
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...
3.9K
02:25Molecules with Multiple Chiral Centers
11.9K
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...
11.9K
02:24Properties of Enantiomers and Optical Activity
17.3K
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,...
17.3K
02:33Stereoisomerism of Cyclic Compounds
9.1K
In this lesson, we delve into the role of ring conformation and its stability, which determines the spatial arrangement and, consequently, the molecular symmetry and stereoisomerism of cyclic compounds. 1,2-Dimethylcyclohexane is used as a case study to evaluate the possible number of stereoisomers. Here, given the multiple (n = 2) chiral centers, there are 2n = 4 possible configurations that lack a plane of symmetry, as the ring skeleton exists in a non-planar chair conformation. In addition,...
9.1K