Access

News and Views

Nature Materials 7, 691–692 (1 September 2008) | doi:10.1038/nmat2263

Magnetic molecules: Chirality and magnetism shake hands

Laurence D. Barron

Chirality, meaning right- or left-handedness, has a long and rich history. The classic manifestation, discovered in the early years of the nineteenth century, is the natural optical rotation of the plane of polarization of linearly polarized light by a chiral medium such as a solution of sugar molecules.