Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

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

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...

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...

Radical Halogenation: Stereochemistry

Radical Halogenation: Stereochemistry

Stereochemistry is the study of the different spatial arrangements of atoms in a given molecule. The stereochemistry of radical halogenations can be understood from three different situations:
Halogenation to form a new chiral center:

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...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Complementary nonlinear optics for polarimetric computing in tellurium.

Nature communications·2026

Same author

The post-transcriptional regulatory RNA-binding protein PTBP1 functions as an inhibitor in hepatic stellate cell activation and liver fibrosis.

Molecular medicine (Cambridge, Mass.)·2026

Same author

Augmented reality in non-instrumentation minimally invasive spine surgery: a narrative review and future perspectives.

Journal of spine surgery (Hong Kong)·2026

Same author

Gut microbiota characteristics and its biological function analysis in patients with tuberculosis and diabetes mellitus co-morbidity.

BMC microbiology·2026

Same author

The diagnostic value of CXCL8 in diabetes mellitus co-morbidity with tuberculosis.

BMC infectious diseases·2026

Same author

Electrically pumped single-mode microlasers with omnidirectional radiation for optical broadcasting communication.

Science advances·2026

Same journal

RETRACTED: Al-Hussain et al. Application of New Sodium Vinyl Sulfonate-co-2-Acrylamido-2-me[thylpropane Sulfonic Acid Sodium Salt-Magnetite Cryogel Nanocomposites for Fast Methylene Blue Removal from Industrial Waste Water. <i>Nanomaterials</i> 2018, <i>8</i>, 878.

Nanomaterials (Basel, Switzerland)·2026

Same journal

Correction: Jiang et al. Methods for Obtaining One Single Larmor Frequency, Either <i>v</i><sub>1</sub> or <i>v</i><sub>2</sub>, in the Coherent Spin Dynamics of Colloidal Quantum Dots. <i>Nanomaterials</i> 2023, <i>13</i>, 2006.

Nanomaterials (Basel, Switzerland)·2026

Same journal

Correction: Ekman et al. Synthesis, Characterization, and Adsorption Properties of Nitrogen-Doped Nanoporous Biochar: Efficient Removal of Reactive Orange 16 Dye and Colorful Effluents. <i>Nanomaterials</i> 2023, <i>13</i>, 2045.

Nanomaterials (Basel, Switzerland)·2026

Same journal

Ti<sub>3</sub>C<sub>2</sub>T<sub>x</sub>-Based Materials and Coatings for De-Icing and Defogging of Wind Turbine Blades: Materials Basis, Structural Design, Engineering Integration, and Future Opportunities.

Nanomaterials (Basel, Switzerland)·2026

Same journal

Influence of the Ripeness Stages of the Precursors on the Optical Characteristics of Carbon Dots Obtained from Valencia Orange Peels (<i>Citrus sinensis</i> L. Osbeck) by Hydrothermal Synthesis.

Nanomaterials (Basel, Switzerland)·2026

Same journal

Insights into ALD Growth of Al-Based Dielectric Stack on 4H-SiC.

Nanomaterials (Basel, Switzerland)·2026

See all related articles

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jan 10, 2026

Development of Heterogeneous Enantioselective Catalysts using Chiral Metal-Organic Frameworks MOFs

Development of Heterogeneous Enantioselective Catalysts using Chiral Metal-Organic Frameworks MOFs

Published on: January 17, 2020

Chiral Materials: Multidisciplinary Progress and Emerging Frontier Application Prospects.

Feifan Xu¹, Hao Liu¹, Zhihan Jin¹

¹School of Integrated Circuit Science and Engineering, Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Nanjing 210023, China.

Nanomaterials (Basel, Switzerland)

|November 26, 2025

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Chiral materials offer unique applications in optics, electronics, quantum science, and biomedicine due to their asymmetry. This review unifies their diverse uses, highlighting advancements in light emission, spintronics, energy, and medicine.

Keywords:

applications biomedicine chiral materials electricity optics quantum science

More Related Videos

A Micropatterning Assay for Measuring Cell Chirality

A Micropatterning Assay for Measuring Cell Chirality

Published on: March 11, 2022

Engineering Molecular Recognition with Bio-mimetic Polymers on Single Walled Carbon Nanotubes

Engineering Molecular Recognition with Bio-mimetic Polymers on Single Walled Carbon Nanotubes

Published on: January 10, 2017

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jan 10, 2026

Development of Heterogeneous Enantioselective Catalysts using Chiral Metal-Organic Frameworks MOFs

Development of Heterogeneous Enantioselective Catalysts using Chiral Metal-Organic Frameworks MOFs

Published on: January 17, 2020

A Micropatterning Assay for Measuring Cell Chirality

A Micropatterning Assay for Measuring Cell Chirality

Published on: March 11, 2022

Engineering Molecular Recognition with Bio-mimetic Polymers on Single Walled Carbon Nanotubes

Engineering Molecular Recognition with Bio-mimetic Polymers on Single Walled Carbon Nanotubes

Published on: January 10, 2017

Area of Science:

Materials Science
Optoelectronics
Quantum Physics
Biomedical Engineering

Background:

Chiral materials possess unique structural asymmetry, leading to chiral-dependent properties.
Applications span optics, electronics, quantum science, and biomedicine, but a unified review is lacking.

Purpose of the Study:

To systematically review and summarize the diverse applications of chiral materials.
To highlight recent advancements and future potential across various scientific disciplines.

Main Methods:

Literature review of chiral materials research.
Analysis of applications based on circular dichroism and chiral inversion aggregation-induced emission.
Exploration of chiral-induced spin-selectivity and topological superconductors.

Main Results:

Chiral materials enable efficient circularly polarized light emission/detection, advancing perovskite and spin light-emitting diodes.
Applications in quantum science support spintronic devices and quantum computing.
Chiral materials are crucial for energy conversion, electrochemical sensing, enantioseparation, drug delivery, and theranostics.

Conclusions:

Chiral materials are versatile with significant potential in optics, electronics, quantum science, and biomedicine.
Future developments focus on multi-functional integration and intelligent response for advanced devices.
Chiral materials offer innovative solutions for energy, environmental, and health challenges.