手性材料的太赫兹光谱鉴别

1. Why chirality analysis important The analysis of chiral molecules is of central importance to modern day chemistry, biochemistry [1] and material science [2-4]. Enantiomeric purity is as paramount as chemical purity to the pharmaceutical industry [5]. Related to this is the optical purity of chiral catalysts and the resulting enantiomeric excess measurements necessary to evaluate synthetic transformations. Analytical techniques capable of surveying chirality have also been used to elucidate reaction mechanisms [1]. More recently materials including polymers [6] as well as supramolecular assemblies and switches [7-10] employing chiral elements have given rise to differential behavior with matter and energy. These initial reports may pave the way for molecular machines and data storage devices that use chirality. On a macromolecular scale, discrete proteins, DNA, RNA, polysaccharides and complexes of these biomolecules are routinely analyzed using chiral optical techniques to gain insight into their threedimensional structural features, most notably their helicity [1].