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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.

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...

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...

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...

Radicals: Electronic Structure and Geometry

Radicals: Electronic Structure and Geometry

This lesson delves into the geometry of a radical, which is influenced by the electronic structure of the molecule. The principle is similar to that of a lone pair, where the unpaired electron influences the geometry at the radical center.
Accordingly, the structure of a trivalent radical lies between the geometries of carbocations and carbanions. An sp2-hybridized carbocation is trigonal planar, while an sp3-hybridized carbanion is trigonal pyramidal. Here, the difference in geometry is...

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...

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 19, 2025

Resonance Raman Spectroscopy of Extreme Nanowires and Other 1D Systems

Resonance Raman Spectroscopy of Extreme Nanowires and Other 1D Systems

Published on: April 28, 2016

Uncovering Maximum Chirality in Resonant Nanostructures.

Weijin Chen^1,2, Zhenyu Wang¹, Maxim V Gorkunov^3,4

¹Chinese Academy of Sciences Key Laboratory of Mechanical Behavior and Design of Materials, Department of Precision Machinery and Precision Instrumentation, University of Science and Technology of China, 230027 Hefei, China.

|July 23, 2024

Summary

Researchers uncovered a microscopic theory for maximizing chirality in nanostructures. This discovery offers a general strategy for designing photonic structures with enhanced chiroptical responses for various applications.

Keywords:

Optical chirality bound state in the continuum chiral metastructure circular dichroism

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Last Updated: Jun 19, 2025

Resonance Raman Spectroscopy of Extreme Nanowires and Other 1D Systems

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Published on: April 28, 2016

A Micropatterning Assay for Measuring Cell Chirality

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Published on: March 11, 2022

Fabrication of Nanopillar-Based Split Ring Resonators for Displacement Current Mediated Resonances in Terahertz Metamaterials

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Published on: March 23, 2017

Area of Science:

Photonics
Chirality
Nanotechnology

Background:

Engineering chiroptical responses of nanostructures typically relies on empirical methods and simulations.
A general strategy to maximize intrinsic chirality in subwavelength photonic structures is not well-established.

Purpose of the Study:

To develop a microscopic theory for understanding and enhancing chiral responses in resonant nanostructures.
To identify the key factors responsible for strong chirality in photonic structures.

Main Methods:

Formulating a microscopic theory to explain chiral responses.
Investigating the role of reactive helicity density at resonance.
Applying the concept to planar photonic crystal slabs and metasurfaces with broken mirror symmetry via bilayer design.

Main Results:

The reactive helicity density is identified as critical for achieving maximum chirality at resonance.
A general design principle for maximizing chirality in resonant nanostructures is revealed.
The theory is successfully demonstrated on bilayer photonic crystal slabs and metasurfaces.

Conclusions:

The study provides a general recipe for designing photonic structures with maximized chirality.
Findings pave the way for advancements in chiral sensing, chiral emitters/detectors, and chiral quantum optics.