Prev. Article Next Article Table of Contents

Article

Molecules, Crystals, and Chirality

Citing Articles

Your current credentials do not allow retrieval of the full text.

Purchase the full-text

PDF/HTML,
figures/images,
references and tables,
(where available)

Il-Hwan Suh , Koon Ha Park , William P. Jensen and David E. Lewis

Department of Chemistry, University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire, Eau Claire, WI 54701

J. Chem. Educ., 1997, 74 (7), p 800

DOI: 10.1021/ed074p800

Publication Date (Web): July 1, 1997

Abstract

The development of the concept of chirality from the early work of Pasteur, van't Hoff and Le Bel to the work of Cahn, Ingold and Prelog is presented, and the constraints that chirality imposes on the symmetry of molecules - that chiral molecules may not possess an improper axis of rotation - is discussed. The relationship and differences between molecular symmetry and crystal symmetry, and the additional constraints imposed by the periodic nature of the crystal lattice are discussed, as are the symmetry elements introduced by the periodicity of the lattice - the glide plane and the screw axis. The constraints on the crystal lattice imposed by chirality of the molecular species in the lattice are also discussed. The methodology of single crystal x-ray structure analysis, including the application of anomalous scattering to the determination of absolute configuration, is briefly reviewed and the limitations on the information available from this most powerful of structure determination techniques is discussed.

Keywords (Audience):

Second-Year Undergraduate

Keywords (Domain):

History / Philosophy

Keywords (Subject):

Crystals / Crystallography

View: Hi-Res PDF | PDF w/ Links

Citing Articles

View all 8 citing articles

Citation data is made available by participants in CrossRef's Cited-by Linking service. For a more comprehensive list of citations to this article, users are encouraged to perform a search in SciFinder.

This article has been cited by 8 ACS Journal articles (5 most recent appear below).

Research Advances: Spinach Nutrient Levels; Steering Oil Droplets; Possible Explanation of Left-Handed Preference?
Angela G. King
Journal of Chemical Education2010 87 (8), 766-769
- Research Advances: Spinach Nutrient Levels; Steering Oil Droplets; Possible Explanation of Left-Handed Preference?
  Angela G. King
  Journal of Chemical Education2010 87 (8), 766-769
  This installment of Research Advances describes investigations of how supermarket storage affects spinach nutrient levels, working on oil droplets that can navigate a maze, and an explanation of nature’s selection for l-amino acids.
  Abstract | Full Text HTML | Hi-Res PDF | PDF w/ Links
The Metolachlor Herbicide: An Exercise in Today's Stereochemistry
Albrecht Mannschreck , Erwin von Angerer
Journal of Chemical Education2009 86 (9), 1054
- The Metolachlor Herbicide: An Exercise in Today's Stereochemistry
  Albrecht Mannschreck , Erwin von Angerer
  Journal of Chemical Education2009 86 (9), 1054
  Metolachlor is one of the most widely used agents registered for the protection of many cultivated plants against weeds. Because of axial and central chirality, this molecule forms four stereoisomers, the investigation of which by 1H NMR and ...
  Abstract | Hi-Res PDF | PDF w/ Links
Chiral Modification of Solid Surfaces: A Molecular View
Francisco Zaera
The Journal of Physical Chemistry C2008 112 (42), 16196-16203
- Chiral Modification of Solid Surfaces: A Molecular View
  Francisco Zaera
  The Journal of Physical Chemistry C2008 112 (42), 16196-16203
  Modification of solid surfaces using chiral agents is perhaps the most promising avenue for bestowing chirality onto heterogeneous catalysts, and with that developing cheap and clean processes for the synthesis of enantiopure compounds. Unfortunately, in ...
  Abstract | Full Text HTML | Hi-Res PDF | PDF w/ Links
Showing Enantiomorphous Crystals of Tartaric Acid
Julio Andrade-Gamboa
Journal of Chemical Education2007 84 (11), 1783
- Showing Enantiomorphous Crystals of Tartaric Acid
  Julio Andrade-Gamboa
  Journal of Chemical Education2007 84 (11), 1783
  Most of the articles and textbooks that show drawings of enantiomorphous crystals use an inadequate view to appreciate the fact that they are non-superimposable mirror images of one another. If a graphical presentation of crystal chirality is not evident, ...
  Abstract | Hi-Res PDF | PDF w/ Links
Enantiomorphic Helical Coordination Polymers of {[M(pyrimidine)(OH₂)₄][SiF₆]·H₂O}_∞ (M = Co²⁺, Cu²⁺, Zn²⁺)
David, B. Cordes, C .V. Krishnamohan Sharma, and Robin D. Rogers
Crystal Growth & Design2007 7 (10), 1943-1945
- Enantiomorphic Helical Coordination Polymers of {[M(pyrimidine)(OH₂)₄][SiF₆]·H₂O}_∞ (M = Co²⁺, Cu²⁺, Zn²⁺)
  David, B. Cordes, C .V. Krishnamohan Sharma, and Robin D. Rogers
  Crystal Growth & Design2007 7 (10), 1943-1945
  Helical coordination complexes, {[M(pyrimidine)(OH2)4][SiF6]·H2O}∞; (M = Co, 1; Cu, 2; Zn, 3), were inadvertently but reproducibly isolated when corresponding metal tetrafluoroborates were reacted with pyrimidine in glass vials in 1:1 molar ratios. The ...
  Abstract | Full Text HTML | Hi-Res PDF | PDF w/ Links