Chirogenesis In Chemical Science

Book excerpt: Chirogenesis in Chemical Science is an exciting new book that takes readers inside the world of chirality and chirogenesis, guided by Victor Borovkov and Riina Aav, both internationally renowned experts on chirality. Chirality is a fundamental property of the universe and has significance in different organic/inorganic materials, living organisms, and human beings. The basic principle of chirality is existence of an object in two mirror image forms, which are not superimposable. This phenomenon is widely seen in various fields of knowledge including mathematics, astronomy, physics, chemistry, biology and ranging in scale from galaxies to nuclear particles.In chemical science, chirality is generally associated with a single molecule or group of molecules, which symmetry properties belonging to the Cn or Dn point groups with the simplest example of sp3 carbon atom bonded to four different substituents. The dynamic processes of chirality generation, modulation, transfer, amplification, etc. are termed chirogenesis.This is a fast-growing and interdisciplinary field of research, which is widely seen in many natural systems (such as DNA double helix, the secondary alpha-helix structure of proteins, lipid membranes, saccharides, heme proteins, and other biological molecular objects) and various artificial systems. It is of prime importance not only for fundamental science but also for a number of practical applications in such areas as pharmacology and agrochemistry, perfumery and food industry, materials and polymer sciences, enantioselective catalysis and nonlinear optics, nanoscience and nanotechnology, molecular devices and chemical sensors, and others. Therefore, understanding the mechanisms and various influencing factors is of particular significance for smart control and further effective application of chirogenesis in chemistry.