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Chirality

Chirality

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...

Chirality at Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Sulfur

Chirality at Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Sulfur

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...

Molecules with Multiple Chiral Centers

Molecules with Multiple Chiral Centers

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...

Chirality in Nature

Chirality in Nature

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.

Prochirality

Prochirality

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...

Fischer Projections

Fischer Projections

Learning to draw Fischer projections of molecules and understanding their relevance plays a crucial role in the visual depiction of organic molecules. A Fischer projection is a two-dimensional projection on a planar surface to simplify the three-dimensional wedge–dash representation of molecules. This is especially helpful in the case of molecules with multiple chiral centers that can be difficult to draw. Here, all the bonds of interest are represented as horizontal or vertical lines.

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jul 25, 2025

Synthesis of Immunotargeted Magneto-plasmonic Nanoclusters

Synthesis of Immunotargeted Magneto-plasmonic Nanoclusters

Published on: August 22, 2014

A magnetic assembly approach to chiral superstructures.

Zhiwei Li¹, Qingsong Fan¹, Zuyang Ye¹

¹Department of Chemistry, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521, USA.

Science (New York, N.Y.)

|June 29, 2023

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Researchers developed a novel method for creating chiral superstructures using magnetic assembly, applicable to diverse materials and scales. This technique enables the transfer of chirality to various achiral molecules, overcoming limitations of traditional methods.

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Area of Science:

Materials Science
Nanotechnology
Physical Chemistry

Background:

Traditional methods for creating chiral superstructures are limited by material composition, morphology, and scale.
Existing techniques often require templating or lithographic patterning, restricting their applicability.

Purpose of the Study:

To introduce a versatile method for forming chiral superstructures using magnetic assembly.
To demonstrate the ability to transfer chirality to a wide range of achiral molecules.

Main Methods:

Generating quadrupole field chirality using permanent magnets with controlled field rotation.
Applying the chiral magnetic field to magnetic nanoparticles for self-assembly.
Incorporating various guest molecules (metals, polymers, oxides, etc.) into magnetic nanostructures.

Main Results:

Rapid formation of long-range chiral superstructures from diverse materials at all scales.
Chirality transfer to achiral molecules like metals, polymers, oxides, semiconductors, dyes, and fluorophores.
Control over superstructure formation through magnetic field strength and magnet orientation.

Conclusions:

Magnetic assembly offers a universal and scalable approach to creating chiral superstructures.
This method significantly expands the possibilities for designing chiral materials with tailored properties.
The ability to transfer chirality to various molecules opens new avenues in fields like catalysis and optics.