Circularly polarized light autocatalysis

Asymmetric Autocatalysis Triggered by Organic Compounds Induced by Circularly Polarized Light... 

We have demonstrated the enantioselective synthesis of near-enantiopure compounds by asymmetric photodegradation of racemic pyrimidyl alkanol 2c by circularly polarized light followed by asymmetric autocatalysis. This is the first example of asymmetric autocatalysis triggered directly by a chiral physical factor CPL. 

D. Asymmetric Autocatalysis using Circularly Polarized Light as a Sole... 

Kawasaki T, Sato M, Ishiguro S et al (2005) Enantioselective synthesis of near enantiopure compound by asymmetric autocatalysis triggered by asymmetric photolysis with circularly polarized light. J Am Chem Soc 127 3274—3275... 

Keywords Amplification of ee Asymmetric autocatalysis Automultiplication Chiral discrimination Circularly polarized light Quartz Isotope chirality Origin of chirality Pyrimidyl alkanol Spontaneous absolute asymmetric synthesis... 

So we can generate chiral material from racemic or achiral material quite easily. It s just that we couldn t predict ahead of time which one we might get— that is, unless you have an external chiral influence We discussed this general idea when we described the chiral photodestruction of molecules in interstellar space. The chiral force here is the circularly polarized light that is expected to preferentially destroy one enantiomer more rapidly than the other. Chemists know that if you have a saturated solution that is cooling down and ready to crystallize, you can influence which crystal you get from the two racemic possibilities by "seeding" the solution with a chiral seed crystal. This will often initiate the formation of the desired enantiomeric crystal, and then the autocatalysis takes over and more of these enantiomeric crystals are formed. 

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