Chiral Systems Chemistry

路易斯·巴斯德最著名的是“巴氏杀菌”过程，通常与牛奶纯化有关，但巴斯德对化学的贡献可能更深远。1848年，巴斯德仅凭目视检查就分离出了酒石酸铵钠四水合物的镜像晶体，并在此过程中开创了分子不对称性这一有趣的话题。手性或手性是我们日常生活的一部分，其重要性在制药工业，农业化学工业和食品工业中尤为明显。到2022年，手性技术支持产品的全球市场预计将达到91亿美元。生物分子的手性偏好是生命系统的一个特征，但生物同手性的起源是科学家面临的一个突出的谜团，尚未找到精确的解释。非手性分子聚集结晶成手性晶体为研究“手性体系化学”提供了一个独特的机会。我们实验室的实验表明，在称为“维埃德马成熟”的过程中，在研磨条件下，可以可靠地将各种非手性分子的聚集晶体驱动为同手性。我们研究的发展将涉及深入研究“手性系统化学”，以了解手性结晶和自组装的层次性质。我们的多层次的方法包括：（一）现代机械化学技术的实施，以促进维埃德马成熟，（二）对映体特定的定向连接（ESOA）的调查，（三）探索手性结晶和凝胶中的螺旋形态和（四）检查镜像对称性破缺和手性放大超分子系统。我们的研究计划不仅对制药和农业化学工业至关重要，而且还解决了生物同手性起源的深刻问题，即“陆地生命的基本分子特征”。此外，我们对凝胶结晶的研究可能有助于更好地理解生物矿化，包括晶体的病理沉积（即晶体沉积疾病）。

Chiral Systems Chemistry Louis Pasteur is best known for the process of `pasteurization', typically associated with milk purification, but Pasteur's contribution to Chemistry is probably more far reaching. In 1848, Pasteur separated mirror image crystals of sodium ammonium tartrate tetrahydrate based solely on visual inspection, and in the process inaugurated the intriguing topic of molecular asymmetry. Chirality, or handedness, is part of our everyday lives and its importance is particularly evident in the pharmaceutical industry, the agrochemical industry, and the food industry. The global market for chiral technology-enabling products is projected to reach $9.1 billion by 2022. Chiral preference for one handedness of biomolecules is a characteristic of living systems, but the origin of biological homochirality is one of the outstanding mysteries facing scientists, where a precise explanation has yet to be found. `Systems Chemistry' can be broadly defined as, `the emergence of order from chaos'. Conglomerate crystallization of achiral molecules into chiral crystals provides a unique opportunity to investigate `chiral systems chemistry'. Experiments in our lab have shown that under attrition conditions in a process called `Viedma ripening', a wide variety of conglomerate crystals of achiral molecules can be reliably driven to homochirality. The evolution of our research will involve delving deeper into `chiral systems chemistry' to understand the hierarchical nature of chiral crystallization and self-assembly. Our multi-tiered approach encompasses: (i) the implementation of modern mechanochemical techniques to facilitate Viedma ripening, (ii) the investigation of enantiomer-specific oriented attachment (ESOA), (iii) the exploration of chiral crystallization and helical morphogenesis in gels and (iv) the examination of mirror symmetry breaking and chiral amplification in supramolecular systems. Our research program is not only of critical importance for the pharmaceutical and agrochemical industries, but also addresses the profound question as to the origins of biological homochirality, `an essential molecular characteristic of terrestrial life'. Furthermore, our studies on crystallization from gels may contribute to a better understanding of biomineralization, including pathological deposition of crystals (i.e. crystal deposition diseases).