A history of chirality

Mauskopf, Seymour H.

doi:10.1016/b978-044451669-5/50001-6

Cited by 12 publications

(12 citation statements)

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“…Chirality is a geometrical property where a figure, or group of points, whose ideally realized image in a plane mirror cannot be brought to coincide with itself. Despite of the simplicity of its definition, chirality is of central importance in physics, chemistry, and biology, and today, we know that left-amino acids, left-peptides, and right-sugars are predominant in the living world, and practically all natural products manifest optical activity [1,2]. Chirality has played a major role in biochemistry and pharmacology, and today it becomes an important issue in nanoscience and nanotechnology [3].…”

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confidence: 99%

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Optically active nanoparticles: Fullerenes, carbon nanotubes, and metal nanoparticles

Hidalgo

Noguez

2010

Physica Status Solidi (b)

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, Phone: þ52 55 5622 5106, Fax: þ52 55 5616 1535A brief topical review of the optical activity of fullerenes, carbon nanotubes, and metallic clusters, is given. Using a recently developed first-principles formalism, the particular case of the optical activity of the chiral C 84 fullerene with D 2 symmetry is studied in detail. In particular, the optical activity of the four possible isomers with this symmetry is studied by calculating the electronic circular dichroism (CD) and compared with experimental data. Although a similar line shape is found for the lowest-energy isomer, the width and intensity of the main experimental peaks are not well reproduced. On the other hand, it is found that the average CD of the mixture of the three lower-energy isomers is in better agreement with experiments. It is expected that this review would be useful as an introduction to optical activity at the nanometer scale, and motivate further experimental studies and the interpretation of natural optical activity in nanoparticles.Calculated CD of a mixture of different isomers of the fullerene C 84 with D 2 symmetry by using DFT and its comparison with experiment.

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confidence: 99%

“…RH and LH enantiomers often do have different interaction related to other substances that are also enantiomers. Since many molecules in the bodies of living beings are enantiomers themselves, there is often a marked difference in the effects of two enantiomers, and their characterization has been a fundamental issue since long time ago [1,2].…”

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confidence: 99%

Optically active nanoparticles: Fullerenes, carbon nanotubes, and metal nanoparticles

Hidalgo

Noguez

2010

Physica Status Solidi (b)

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“…72 Thus, Laurent's views and theories neither predicted nor explained Pasteur's discovery. 74 It is relevant in this context that Pasteur's recognition specifically of the chirality of the tartrate crystals (in distinction to their hemihedrism) has been somewhat of a puzzle, inasmuch as several eminent scientist, eg, Biot, Hankel, de la Provostaye, and Mitscherlich, before him had studied the tartrate crystals but missed recognizing their chiral morphology. 74 It is relevant in this context that Pasteur's recognition specifically of the chirality of the tartrate crystals (in distinction to their hemihedrism) has been somewhat of a puzzle, inasmuch as several eminent scientist, eg, Biot, Hankel, de la Provostaye, and Mitscherlich, before him had studied the tartrate crystals but missed recognizing their chiral morphology.…”

Section: Pasteur's Ethics In the Matter Of Auguste Laurentmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Mauskopf argues that Pasteur's research that led to the discovery was significantly aided by the approach and theories he had learned from Laurent and that among Pasteur's mentors Laurent had the most important influence on him (and on this Mauskopf agrees with Geison), 66,73 yet Mauskopf still concludes that "[t]here was nothing in Laurent's molecular approach that I can see would have helped to elucidate chirality." 74 It is relevant in this context that Pasteur's recognition specifically of the chirality of the tartrate crystals (in distinction to their hemihedrism) has been somewhat of a puzzle, inasmuch as several eminent scientist, eg, Biot, Hankel, de la Provostaye, and Mitscherlich, before him had studied the tartrate crystals but missed recognizing their chiral morphology. Moreover, as mentioned above, Pasteur was young and relatively inexperienced when he made the discovery.…”

Section: Pasteur's Ethics In the Matter Of Auguste Laurentmentioning

confidence: 99%

In defense of Louis Pasteur: Critique of Gerald Geison's deconstruction of Pasteur's discovery of molecular chirality

Gál

2019

Chirality

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Louis Pasteur discovered the phenomenon of molecular chirality, based on his studies of tartrate crystals. His finding remains one of the most important discoveries in the history of chemistry and a fundamentally important chemical phenomenon, with essential implications in biology. In his 1995 book The Private Science of Louis Pasteur, the eminent historian of science Gerald L.Geison was highly critical of much of Pasteur's work including his discovery of molecular chirality. The in-depth analysis provided in this article indicates, however, that the negative assessment of Pasteur's chirality work by Geison is entirely without scientific basis. Criticisms of Pasteur in the book for other "transgressions" in his chirality work, such as supposed influences of his personal biases and stubbornly held a priori notions, misrepresentation of his scientific work in his publications and lectures, and unethical and careerminded conduct, are also not supported by the evidence. Other troubling features of the book include a broad failure to assure accuracy in a variety of fundamental and important information, including errors in names, dates, events, referencing, indexing, and French-language text.

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“…The Baltimore Lectures were published126 in conventional form in 1904. Most references (of which only a few can be cited here127–129) to the origins of the chirality terminology ignore the Robert Boyle Lecture and erroneously cite the 1884 Baltimore Lectures and/or their published form of 1904. The source of the confusion is the fact that the published form126 (1904) of the Baltimore Lectures includes a reprinting of the Second Robert Boyle Lecture (1894) as an appendix, including its chirality terminology.…”

Section: Dissymmetrymentioning

confidence: 99%

Louis Pasteur, language, and molecular chirality. I. Background and Dissymmetry

Gál

2010

Chirality

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Louis Pasteur resolved sodium ammonium (±)-tartrate in 1848, thereby discovering molecular chirality. Although hindered by the primitive state of organic chemistry, he introduced new terminology and nomenclature for his new science of molecular and crystal chirality. He was well prepared for this task by his rigorous education and innate abilities, and his linguistic achievements eventually earned him membership in the supreme institution for the French language, the Académie française. Dissymmetry had been in use in French from the early 1820s for disruption or absence of symmetry or for dissimilarity or difference in appearance between two objects, and Pasteur initially used it in the latter connotation, without any reference to handedness or enantiomorphism. Soon, however, he adopted it in the meaning of chirality. Asymmetry had been in use in French since 1691 but Pasteur ignored it in favor of dissymmetry. The two terms are not synonymous but it is not clear whether Pasteur recognized this difference in choosing the former over the latter. However, much of the literature mistranslates his dissymmetry as asymmetry. Twenty years before Pasteur the British polymath John Herschel proposed that optical rotation in the noncrystalline state is due to the "unsymmetrical" [his term] nature of the molecules and later used dissymmetrical for handed. Chirality, coined by Lord Kelvin in 1894 and introduced into chemistry by Mislow in 1962, has nearly completely replaced dissymmetry in the meaning of handedness, but the use of dissymmetry continues today in other contexts for lack of symmetry, reduction of symmetry, or dissimilarity.

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A history of chirality

Cited by 12 publications

References 6 publications

Optically active nanoparticles: Fullerenes, carbon nanotubes, and metal nanoparticles

Optically active nanoparticles: Fullerenes, carbon nanotubes, and metal nanoparticles

In defense of Louis Pasteur: Critique of Gerald Geison's deconstruction of Pasteur's discovery of molecular chirality

Louis Pasteur, language, and molecular chirality. I. Background and Dissymmetry

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