This Review discusses the structure−property relationships in chiral molecules, macromolecules (polymers), and supramolecules (crystals, liquid crystals, or thin films) containing main-group elements. Chirality is a major property in our world, having a prominent influence on processes in biology, chemistry, and physics. Its impact in optics due to its interaction with electromagnetic waves gave rise to a multitude of effects, such as the Cotton effect and circularly polarized luminescence, making possible applications such as 3D displays and polarized sunglasses. Herein, a particular emphasis will be given to the influence of chirality on the conducting and optical properties of molecules or materials containing frontier heteroelements, particularly boron, silicon, phosphorus, and sulfur. These synergic materials are expected to become game-changers in the field of materials science by bringing new properties into the realm of reality, such as chirality-induced spin-selectivity, circularly polarized luminescence, and electrical magnetochiral anisotropy. This Review should be of interest for chemists and also physicists working in the fields of molecular and supramolecular chemistry, and molecular materials in the broadest sense.

A sustainable future requires highly efficient energy conversion and storage processes, where electrocatalysis plays a crucial role. The activity of an electrocatalyst is governed by the binding energy towards the reaction intermediates, while the scaling relationships prevent the improvement of a catalytic system over its volcano-plot limits. To overcome these limitations, unconventional methods that are not fully determined by the surface binding energy can be helpful. Here, we use organic chiral molecules, i.e., hetero-helicenes such as thiadiazole-[7]helicene and bis(thiadiazole)-[8]helicene, to boost the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) by up to ca. 130 % (at the potential of 1.65 V vs. RHE) at state-of-the-art 2D Ni- and NiFe-based catalysts via a spin-polarization mechanism. Our results show that chiral molecule-functionalization is able to increase the OER activity of catalysts beyond the volcano limits. A guideline for optimizing the catalytic activity via chiral molecular functionalization of hybrid 2D electrodes is given.