Chirogenesis and Amplification of Molecular Chirality Using Optical Vortices

Abstract

The study of chirogenesis of organic molecules is important to elucidate the origin of the homochirality of biomolecules on Earth. Here, we have accomplished chiral symmetry breaking from a racemate using optical vortices with orbital angular momentum and a helical wavefront. We propose a new methodology of asymmetric transformation by the combination of enantioselective crystal nucleation by irradiation with optical vortices and crystallization-induced dynamic optical resolution of conglomerate crystals. Chiral green vortices generated using a spiral phase plate (SPP) with a 532 nm CW-laser were used to irradiate a supersaturated solution of a racemic isoindolinone, leading to crystal nucleation. The handedness of the crystals were controlled by the winding direction of the chiral optical vortices. The molecular chirality of the isoindolinone was then amplified by dynamic crystallization.