Chirality (chemistry)
In
A chiral molecule or ion exists in two
Chiral molecules will usually have a stereogenic element from which chirality arises. The most common type of stereogenic element is a stereogenic center, or stereocenter. In the case of organic compounds, stereocenters most frequently take the form of a carbon atom with four distinct (different) groups attached to it in a tetrahedral geometry. Less commonly, other atoms like N, P, S, and Si can also serve as stereocenters, provided they have four distinct substituents (including lone pair electrons) attached to them.
A given stereocenter has two possible configurations (R and S), which give rise to stereoisomers (diastereomers and enantiomers) in molecules with one or more stereocenter. For a chiral molecule with one or more stereocenter, the enantiomer corresponds to the stereoisomer in which every stereocenter has the opposite configuration. An organic compound with only one stereogenic carbon is always chiral. On the other hand, an organic compound with multiple stereogenic carbons is typically, but not always, chiral. In particular, if the stereocenters are configured in such a way that the molecule can take a conformation having a plane of symmetry or an inversion point, then the molecule is achiral and is known as a meso compound.
Molecules with chirality arising from one or more stereocenters are classified as possessing central chirality. There are two other types of stereogenic elements that can give rise to chirality, a stereogenic axis (axial chirality) and a stereogenic plane (planar chirality). Finally, the inherent curvature of a molecule can also give rise to chirality (inherent chirality). These types of chirality are far less common than central chirality. BINOL is a typical example of an axially chiral molecule, while trans-cyclooctene is a commonly cited example of a planar chiral molecule. Finally, helicene possesses helical chirality, which is one type of inherent chirality.
Chirality is an important concept for
Definition
The chirality of a molecule is based on the molecular symmetry of its conformations. A conformation of a molecule is chiral if and only if it belongs to the Cn, Dn, T, O, I point groups (the chiral point groups). However, whether the molecule itself is considered to be chiral depends on whether its chiral conformations are persistent isomers that could be isolated as separated enantiomers, at least in principle, or the enantiomeric conformers rapidly interconvert at a given temperature and timescale through low-energy conformational changes (rendering the molecule achiral). For example, despite having chiral gauche conformers that belong to the C2 point group, butane is considered achiral at room temperature because rotation about the central C–C bond rapidly interconverts the enantiomers (3.4 kcal/mol barrier). Similarly, cis-1,2-dichlorocyclohexane consists of chair conformers that are nonidentical mirror images, but the two can interconvert via the cyclohexane chair flip (~10 kcal/mol barrier). As another example, amines with three distinct substituents (R1R2R3N:) are also regarded as achiral molecules because their enantiomeric pyramidal conformers rapidly invert and interconvert through a planar transition state (~6 kcal/mol barrier).
However, if the temperature in question is low enough, the process that interconverts the enantiomeric chiral conformations becomes slow compared to a given timescale. The molecule would then be considered to be chiral at that temperature. The relevant timescale is, to some degree, arbitrarily defined: 1000 seconds is sometimes employed, as this is regarded as the lower limit for the amount of time required for chemical or chromatographic separation of enantiomers in a practical sense. Molecules that are chiral at room temperature due to restricted rotation about a single bond (barrier to rotation ≥ ca. 23 kcal/mol) are said to exhibit atropisomerism.
A chiral compound can contain no
The following table shows some examples of chiral and achiral molecules, with the Schoenflies notation of the point group of the molecule. In the achiral molecules, X and Y (with no subscript) represent achiral groups, whereas XR and XS or YR and YS represent enantiomers. Note that there is no meaning to the orientation of an S2 axis, which is just an inversion. Any orientation will do, so long as it passes through the center of inversion. Also note that higher symmetries of chiral and achiral molecules also exist, and symmetries that do not include those in the table, such as the chiral C3 or the achiral S4.
An example of a molecule that does not have a mirror plane or an inversion and yet would be considered achiral is 1,1-difluoro-2,2-dichlorocyclohexane (or 1,1-difluoro-3,3-dichlorocyclohexane). This may exist in many conformers (
An achiral molecule having chiral conformations could theoretically form a mixture of right-handed and left-handed crystals, as often happens with
Stereogenic centers
A stereogenic center (or stereocenter) is an atom such that swapping the positions of two ligands (connected groups) on that atom results in a molecule that is stereoisomeric to the original. For example, a common case is a
Similarly, a stereogenic axis (or plane) is defined as an axis (or plane) in the molecule such that the swapping of any two ligands attached to the axis (or plane) gives rise to a stereoisomer. For instance, the
Chirality can also arise from isotopic differences between atoms, such as in the deuterated benzyl alcohol PhCHDOH; which is chiral and optically active ([α]D = 0.715°), even though the non-deuterated compound PhCH2OH is not.[6]
If two enantiomers easily interconvert, the pure enantiomers may be practically impossible to separate, and only the racemic mixture is observable. This is the case, for example, of most amines with three different substituents (NRR′R″), because of the low
It is not necessary for the chiral substance to have a stereogenic element. Examples include certain
When the optical
Chirality is an intrinsic part of the identity of a molecule, so the systematic name includes details of the absolute configuration (R/S, D/L, or other designations).
Manifestations of chirality
- Flavor: the
- Odor: R-(–)-carvone smells like spearmint whereas S-(+)-carvone smells like caraway.[10]
- Drug effectiveness: the racemic mixture. However, studies have shown that only the (S)-(+) enantiomer (escitalopram) is responsible for the drug's beneficial effects.[11][12]
- Drug safety: D‑penicillamine is used in chelation therapy and for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis whereas L‑penicillamine is toxic as it inhibits the action of pyridoxine, an essential B vitamin.[13]
In biochemistry
Many biologically active molecules are chiral, including the naturally occurring amino acids (the building blocks of proteins) and sugars.
The origin of this homochirality in biology is the subject of much debate.[14] Most scientists believe that Earth life's "choice" of chirality was purely random, and that if carbon-based life forms exist elsewhere in the universe, their chemistry could theoretically have opposite chirality. However, there is some suggestion that early amino acids could have formed in comet dust. In this case, circularly polarised radiation (which makes up 17% of stellar radiation) could have caused the selective destruction of one chirality of amino acids, leading to a selection bias which ultimately resulted in all life on Earth being homochiral.[15][16]
Enzymes, which are chiral, often distinguish between the two enantiomers of a chiral substrate. One could imagine an enzyme as having a glove-like cavity that binds a substrate. If this glove is right-handed, then one enantiomer will fit inside and be bound, whereas the other enantiomer will have a poor fit and is unlikely to bind.
L-forms of amino acids tend to be tasteless, whereas D-forms tend to taste sweet.
Chirality is important in context of ordered phases as well, for example the addition of a small amount of an optically active molecule to a nematic phase (a phase that has long range orientational order of molecules) transforms that phase to a chiral nematic phase (or cholesteric phase). Chirality in context of such phases in polymeric fluids has also been studied in this context.[17]
In inorganic chemistry
Chirality is a symmetry property, not a property of any part of the periodic table. Thus many inorganic materials, molecules, and ions are chiral. Quartz is an example from the mineral kingdom. Such noncentric materials are of interest for applications in nonlinear optics.
In the areas of
Chiral ligands confer chirality to a metal complex, as illustrated by metal-
Methods and practices
The term
Enantiomers can be separated by chiral resolution. This often involves forming crystals of a salt composed of one of the enantiomers and an acid or base from the so-called chiral pool of naturally occurring chiral compounds, such as malic acid or the amine brucine. Some racemic mixtures spontaneously crystallize into right-handed and left-handed crystals that can be separated by hand. Louis Pasteur used this method to separate left-handed and right-handed sodium ammonium tartrate crystals in 1849. Sometimes it is possible to seed a racemic solution with a right-handed and a left-handed crystal so that each will grow into a large crystal.
Liquid chromatography (HPLC and TLC) may also be used as an analytical method for the direct separation of
Miscellaneous nomenclature
- Any non-racemic chiral substance is called scalemic. Scalemic materials can be enantiopure or enantioenriched.[22]
- A chiral substance is enantiopure when only one of two possible enantiomers is present so that all molecules within a sample have the same chirality sense. Use of homochiral as a synonym is strongly discouraged.[23]
- A chiral substance is enantioenriched or heterochiral when its enantiomeric ratio is greater than 50:50 but less than 100:0.[24]
- Enantiomeric excess or e.e. is the difference between how much of one enantiomer is present compared to the other. For example, a sample with 40% e.e. of R contains 70% R and 30% S (70% − 30% = 40%).[25]
History
The rotation of plane polarized light by chiral substances was first observed by Jean-Baptiste Biot in 1812,[26] and gained considerable importance in the sugar industry, analytical chemistry, and pharmaceuticals. Louis Pasteur deduced in 1848 that this phenomenon has a molecular basis.[27][28] The term chirality itself was coined by Lord Kelvin in 1894.[29] Different enantiomers or diastereomers of a compound were formerly called optical isomers due to their different optical properties.[30] At one time, chirality was thought to be restricted to organic chemistry, but this misconception was overthrown by the resolution of a purely inorganic compound, a cobalt complex called hexol, by Alfred Werner in 1911.[31]
In the early 1970s, various groups established that the
See also
- Chirality (electromagnetism)
- Chirality (mathematics)
- Chirality (physics)
- Enantiopure drug
- Enantioselective synthesis
- Handedness
- Orientation (vector space)
- Pfeiffer effect
- Stereochemistry for overview of stereochemistry in general
- Stereoisomerism
- Supramolecular chirality
References
- ISBN 9780131407480
- ^ Organic Chemistry (3rd Edition) Marye Anne Fox, James K. Whitesell Jones & Bartlett Publishers (2004)
ISBN 0763721972
- ^ Cotton, F. A., "Chemical Applications of Group Theory," John Wiley & Sons: New York, 1990.
- .
- ^ ISSN 1083-6160.
- ISSN 0002-7863.
- PMID 23034823.
- ^ .
- S2CID 36768144.
- S2CID 20110906.
- PMID 14236210.
- ^ ISBN 978-3540768852.
- ^ McKee, Maggie (2005-08-24). "Space radiation may select amino acids for life". New Scientist. Retrieved 2016-02-05.
- PMID 16035020.)
{{cite journal}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link - .
- ISBN 047195599X.
- ISBN 189138953X
- )
- )
- doi:10.1002/(sici)1520-636x(1997)9:5/6<428::aid-chir5>3.3.co;2-e. Archived from the originalon 3 March 2016. Retrieved 5 February 2016.
- S2CID 122887123.
- ^ Pasteur, L. (1848). Researches on the molecular asymmetry of natural organic products, English translation of French original, published by Alembic Club Reprints (Vol. 14, pp. 1–46) in 1905, facsimile reproduction by SPIE in a 1990 book.
- ISBN 978-0471016700. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
- S2CID 46514372.
- .
- S2CID 25725148.
- .
Further reading
- Clayden, Jonathan; Greeves, Nick; Warren, Stuart (2012). Organic Chemistry (2nd ed.). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. pp. 319f, 432, 604np, 653, 746int, 803ketals, 839, 846f. ISBN 978-0199270293. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
- Eliel, Ernest Ludwig; Wilen, Samuel H.; Mander, Lewis N. (1994). "Chirality in Molecules Devoid of Chiral Centers (Chapter 14)". Stereochemistry of Organic Compounds. Vol. 9 (1st ed.). New York, NY, USA: Wiley & Sons. pp. 428–430. ISBN 978-0471016700. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
- Eliel, E.L. (1997). "Infelicitous Stereochemical Nomenclatures". Chirality. 9 (5–6): 428–430. doi:10.1002/(SICI)1520-636X(1997)9:5/6<428::AID-CHIR5>3.0.CO;2-1. Archived from the originalon 3 March 2016. Retrieved 5 February 2016.
- Gal, Joseph (2013). "Molecular Chirality: Language, History, and Significance". Chirality. Topics in Current Chemistry. 340: 1–20. PMID 23666078.
External links
- 21st International Symposium on Chirality
- STEREOISOMERISM - OPTICAL ISOMERISM
- Symposium highlights-Session 5: New technologies for small molecule synthesis
- IUPAC nomenclature for amino acid configurations.
- Michigan State University's explanation of R/S nomenclature
- Chirality & Odour Perception at leffingwell.com
- Chirality & Bioactivity I.: Pharmacology
- Chirality and the Search for Extraterrestrial Life
- The Handedness of the Universe by Roger A Hegstrom and Dilip K Kondepudi http://quantummechanics.ucsd.edu/ph87/ScientificAmerican/Sciam/Hegstrom_The_Handedness_of_the_universe.pdf