2023-04-18
News:
Chirality is a property of asymmetry resulting, for an object, from the
non-superposition of its image in a mirror. The notion of symmetry
breaking, inherent in the organization of matter, the formation of new
structural edifices, and, more fundamentally, weak interactions, is omnipresent. From the physics of elementary particles to molecules of
the living world and functional organisms, to climatic phenomena inducing
vortices of forces, chirality often plays a crucial role. It is also a
conception of geometry exploited in design fields and man-made constructions for its functionality and uniqueness.
In this chapter, we will focus on the chirality observed in solid state
matter, that is, chirality based on the solid state organization of atoms or
molecules. While there can be an important overlap with inorganic chiral
nanostructures or nanoparticles for which there are a number of reviews,
the solid state matters treated in this chapter can include crystals as well
as amorphous solids of both organic and inorganic molecules. As we
will discuss below, the study of the chirality of solid materials has
mainly been focused on asymmetric ordered and periodic structures.
When atoms are considered as a repeating unit, chiral crystals of achiral
molecules can be classified as 3D asymmetric periodic structures. Chiral
crystal faces of centric crystals and chiral 2D patterns of achiral molecules
can be classified as 2D asymmetric periodic structures. Individual
helical polymeric chains, chiral carbon nanotubes, and nanoparticles can
be classified as 1D asymmetric periodic structures. We should also mention
that chiral quasicrystals do not have mirror symmetry or translational
symmetry, but have rotational symmetry, showing beautiful chiral
ordered structures. We will also describe how chirality can be enhanced
by the 2D or 3D organization of building components of solid materials.
We will close with a discussion of spectroscopic methods to characterize
chiral objects and assemblies.
Reiko Oda, Peizhao Liu, Elizabeth Hillard, Patrick Rosa, Sylvain Nlate, Yutaka Okazaki, Emilie Pouget, Yann Battie and Thierry Buffeteau
https://doi.org/10.1142/9789811259227_0006
https://doi.org/10.1142/9789811259227_0006
Laboratory :
CBMN, ISM, ICMCB, Université de Lorraine, Kyoto University