Stirring competes with chemical induction in chiral selection of soft matter aggregates

Núria Petit-Garrido, Josep Claret, Jordi Ignés-Mullol and Francesc Sagués ()
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Núria Petit-Garrido: Departament de Química Física and Institut de Nanociència i Nanotecnologia, Universitat de Barcelona
Josep Claret: Departament de Química Física and Institut de Nanociència i Nanotecnologia, Universitat de Barcelona
Jordi Ignés-Mullol: Departament de Química Física and Institut de Nanociència i Nanotecnologia, Universitat de Barcelona
Francesc Sagués: Departament de Química Física and Institut de Nanociència i Nanotecnologia, Universitat de Barcelona

Nature Communications, 2012, vol. 3, issue 1, 1-6

Abstract: Abstract Chirality, the absence of mirror symmetry, can be equally invoked in relation to physical forces and chemical induction processes, yet a competition between these two types of influence is rarely reported. Here we present a self-assembled soft matter system in which chiral selection is controlled by the combined independent action of a chiral dopant and vortical stirring, which are arbitrarily coupled, either constructively or destructively. In the latter case, perfect compensation, that is, absence of a net chiral effect, is realized. The induced enantiomorphic excess is measured in terms of the statistical imbalance of an ensemble of submillimetre domains, where achiral molecules self-assemble with a well-defined orientational chirality that is unambiguously resolved using optical microscopy. The possibility of combining top-down and bottom-up strategies to induce a chiral predominance in a supramolecular system of achiral components should be recognized as a new twist in the process of chiral recognition, selection and control.

Date: 2012
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DOI: 10.1038/ncomms1987

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