Issue 8, 2022

Mechanism of diastereoisomer-induced chirality of BiOBr

Abstract

Chiral molecule-driven asymmetric structures are known to be elusive because of the intriguing chirality transfer from chiral molecules to achiral species. Here, we found that the chiral assembly of BiOBr is independent of the chirality of the organic molecular inducer but dependent on geometric structural matching between the inducer and inorganic species. Diastereoisomeric sugar alcohols (DSAs) with identical numbers of carbon chiral centers and functional groups but with different R/S configurations and optical activities (OAs) were chosen as symmetry-breaking agents for inducing chiral mesostructured BiOBr films (CMBFs) under hydrothermal conditions. Multiple levels of chirality with different handedness were identified in the CMBFs. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations suggest that asymmetric defects in the Br–Bi tetragonal cone caused by physically adsorbed DSAs on the surfaces of the BiOBr crystals are the geometric basis for triggering the chiral twist in the BiOBr monolayer. Our findings provide new insights for understanding the origin of chirality and the chiral transfer mechanism underlying the assembly of achiral species.

Graphical abstract: Mechanism of diastereoisomer-induced chirality of BiOBr

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Edge Article
Submitted
12 Oct 2021
Accepted
02 Feb 2022
First published
04 Feb 2022
This article is Open Access

All publication charges for this article have been paid for by the Royal Society of Chemistry
Creative Commons BY license

Chem. Sci., 2022,13, 2450-2455

Mechanism of diastereoisomer-induced chirality of BiOBr

K. Ding, J. Ai, Y. Duan, L. Han, Z. Qu and S. Che, Chem. Sci., 2022, 13, 2450 DOI: 10.1039/D1SC05601H

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications without requesting further permissions from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given.

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