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Supramolecular chemistry

Lasting chiral memory

Nature Materials volume 2, pages 216–217 (2003)Cite this article

Supramolecular structures can be chiral even if made up of entirely achiral components. Now researchers have found a way to maintain supramolecular chirality through a rigid structure that induces a 'memory' effect without the need for a chiral template.

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Figure 1: A supramolecular species built with chiral and achiral building blocks can retain the memory of the imprinted chirality (handedness) even after substitution or removal of the chiral component.
Figure 2: The use of kinetically labile components to build a supramolecular structure that displays chiral memory.

©Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. (2001, 2003)

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  1. Dipartimento di Scienze Chimiche, Università di Catania, Catania, Italy

    Roberto Purrello

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  1. Roberto Purrello
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Purrello, R. Lasting chiral memory. Nature Mater 2, 216–217 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat864

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