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Physical chemistry

Handedness detected by microwaves

Nature volume 497, pages 446–448 (2013)Cite this article

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Traditional methods for detecting and identifying the handedness of molecules — their chirality — have been based on the same theoretical concept. A technique has been reported that departs from this paradigm. See Letter p.475

The property of handedness known as chirality is one of the most subtle and yet profound aspects of our world. Of particular relevance to chemistry and biology is the fact that molecular structures can be chiral: as with our left and right hands, chiral molecules have otherwise equivalent mirror-image isomers of the opposite chirality1. Such isomers are called enantiomers, and the ability to distinguish between them is called enantiomeric detection. On page 475 of this issue, Patterson et al.2 describe a method that adds to the chemist's toolbox of techniques for detecting and identifying chirality in molecules3. They report that, when microwave radiation associated with transitions between rotational states is emitted by molecules of opposite chirality, the radiation is exactly out of phase, thus providing a clear signal of molecular chirality.

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Figure 1: A new mechanism for chiroptical spectroscopy.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laurence A. Nafie is in the Department of Chemistry, Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York 13244, USA.,

    Laurence A. Nafie

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  1. Laurence A. Nafie
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Correspondence to Laurence A. Nafie.

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Nafie, L. Handedness detected by microwaves. Nature 497, 446–448 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/497446b

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