ISSN:
0899-0042
Keywords:
chiral separation
;
two- and three-dimensional crystals
;
grazing incidence X-ray diffraction
;
atomic force microscopy
;
Chemistry
;
Organic Chemistry
Source:
Wiley InterScience Backfile Collection 1832-2000
Topics:
Chemistry and Pharmacology
Notes:
Spontaneous separation of enantiomers in two- and three-dimensional crystals is driven by the same thermodynamic and kinetic factors. However, amphiphilic crystalline monolayers at an interface cannot possess a center of inversion, the most common symmetry element in bulk crystals. This fact should, in principle, lead to better chances for spontaneous separation in the Langmuir or Langmuir-Blodgett monomolecular films. On the other hand, the monolayers of most amphiphiles studied to date incorporate long aliphatic chains that have an intrinsic tendency to pack in a herring-bone motif requiring glide plane symmetry, thus creating a bias towards racemate formation. Moreover, 2-D crystals supposedly have a much higher degree of molecular and therefore enantiomeric disorder compared to bulk crystals. All these factors necessitate a careful choice of molecules to guarantee enantiomeric separation in two dimensions. Unambiguous detection of spontaneous resolution in 2-D appears to require atomic resolution of molecular packing arrangement, which can in principle be obtained by grazing incidence X-ray diffraction or atomic force microscopy, whereas in bulk solids spontaneous resolution can be easily detected by various macroscopic methods. This short review provides analogies between spontaneous separation in 3-D and recent examples in 2-D, showing that spontaneous separation generally depends upon subtle differences in molecular structure. Chirality 10:415-424, 1998. © 1998 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Additional Material:
8 Ill.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
