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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

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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 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.

Molecules and Compounds

Molecules and Compounds

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Electron Transport Chains

Electron Transport Chains

The final stage of cellular respiration is oxidative phosphorylation that consists of two steps: the electron transport chain and chemiosmosis. The electron transport chain is a set of proteins found in the inner mitochondrial membrane in eukaryotic cells. Its primary function is to establish a proton gradient that can be used during chemiosmosis to produce ATP and generate electron carriers, such as NAD+ and FAD, that are used in glycolysis and the citric acid cycle.
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Chirality at Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Sulfur

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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...

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Feb 11, 2026

$Microcrystal Electron Diffraction of Small Molecules$

Microcrystal Electron Diffraction of Small Molecules

Published on: March 15, 2021

A simple approach to attosecond electronic chirality flips using triatomic molecules.

Dietrich Haase¹, Jörn Manz¹, Beate Paulus¹

¹Institut für Chemie und Biochemie, Freie Universität Berlin, 14195 Berlin, Germany. jmanz@chemie.fu-berlin.de.

Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics : PCCP

|February 10, 2026

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Electronic chirality flips in achiral molecules can be induced by Franck-Condon excitation. This quantum dynamics simulation focused on the NSF molecule, demonstrating a key effect in ultrafast chemistry.

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Area of Science:

Quantum chemistry
Ultrafast spectroscopy
Molecular physics

Background:

Electronic chirality flips in achiral molecules are a significant area of research.
Understanding these phenomena is crucial for advancements in attosecond and femtosecond chemistry and physics.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the induction of electronic chirality flips in achiral molecules.
To explore the role of Franck-Condon excitation in this process within the NSF molecule.

Main Methods:

Utilizing quantum dynamics simulations.
Employing Franck-Condon excitation.
Studying the A' + A″ superposition of electronic states in the NSF molecule.

Main Results:

Demonstrated that electronic chirality flips can be induced by simple Franck-Condon excitation.
Showcased this effect in the oriented bent triatomic heteronuclear molecule NSF.
Simulated the A' + A″ superposition of the electronic A' ground state and the first excited A″ state.

Conclusions:

Franck-Condon excitation is an effective method for inducing electronic chirality flips.
The NSF molecule serves as a model system for observing this quantum phenomenon.
Findings contribute to the understanding of ultrafast electronic dynamics in molecules.