Supramolecular Chirality in Layered Crystals of Achiral Ammonium Salts and Fatty Acids: A Hierarchical Interpretation

Abstract

Something out of nothing: Chiral layered crystals are obtained from achiral 4-methylbenzylammonium myristate and pentadecanoate. The molecular chirality within a single molecule in these systems arises from the fixation of the conformation. It then spreads over the 2D layers and finally over the 3D crystal to generate supramolecular chirality by parallel assembly (see picture).