Titre : Chiral Purification Using Crystal Growth and Grinding.
Cette conférence sera prononcée par le professeur Elias Vlieg de l'institut pour les molécules et les matériaux de Radboud University Nijmegen (Pays-Bas). Elle est commanditée par le Centre de recherche sur les materiaux auto-assemblés (CRMAA) et sera donnée en anglais.
Résumé : Understanding how single-handedness of biological molecules came about has been of interest since Pasteur first separated mirror-image crystals of tartaric acid. It has recently been discovered that grinding a slurry of NaClO3 crystals can lead to a solid state of single chirality. While NaClO3 is intrinsically achiral, we have found that the grinding method also works for genuine chiral molecules. The handedness of the final state can be controlled in several ways, including the use of additives, the crystal size distribution and the use of circularly polarized light. These results demonstrate a possible route for the origin of biological homochirality, but also provide a rapid method that can be used in the pharmaceutical industry to produce chirally pure products.
