Interfaces and chirality: Molecular dynamics simulations of enantioseparations

“手性”分子有一对双胞胎，双胞胎是镜像--就像右手的反射是左手一样。双胞胎分子被称为对映体，在化学合成中，他们通常是一起产生的。许多药物都有镜像，但立普妥和Plavix等药物是作为单一对映体出售的(双胞胎中只有一种)。为什么？对于许多药物来说，活性取决于一种对映体，而另一种可能具有完全不同的效果。这就是为什么分离对映体在药物开发以及农用化学品、食品添加剂、香水和其他产品的生产中非常重要的原因。已经开发了分离对映体的实验技术，这些方法使用第三个手性分子-选择器-与每个对映体配对。这些对是不同的，理想情况下，差异足够大，可以实现分离。

A "chiral" molecule has a twin, and the twin is a mirror image - just like the reflection of a right hand is a left hand. Molecular twins are called enantiomers and in a chemical synthesis, they are often produced together. Many pharmaceuticals have mirror images but drugs such as Lipitor and Plavix are sold as single enantiomers (only one of the twins). Why? For many drugs, activity resides with one enantiomer and the other may have an entirely different effect. This difference is the reason why separating enantiomers is important in drug development, and for the production of agrichemicals, food additives, perfumes, and other products. Experimental techniques have been developed to separate enantiomers and these methods use of a third chiral molecule - a selector - that pairs up with each of the enantiomers. The pairs are different and, ideally, the difference is big enough that a separation can be achieved.