Why Enantiopure Molecular Magnets

Schematic representation of the magnetochiral dichroic (MChD) effect. 

Rikken and Raupach used the MChD effect to favour the production of one enantiomer over the other in the photochemical racemization of the complex [Cr(C204)3]K3. However, the enantiomeric excess obtained as a function of the wavelength of the incident light was very low ee from —1.10 to 0.5.10 ), even for a magnetic field as strong as 7.5 T. This phenomenon was predicted by Barron in a provocative article entitled Can a magnetic field induce asymmetric synthesis . 

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