Helicenes: synthesis and applications.

Trifluoromethyltrimethylsilane: nucleophilic trifluoromethylation and beyond.

Kepa Ruiz-Mirazo,†,∥ Carlos Briones,‡,∥ and Andreś de la Escosura* †Biophysics Unit (CSIC-UPV/EHU), Leioa, and Department of Logic and Philosophy of Science, University of the Basque Country, Avenida de Tolosa 70, 20080 Donostia−San Sebastiań, Spain ‡Department of Molecular Evolution, Centro de Astrobiología (CSIC−INTA, associated to the NASA Astrobiology Institute), Carretera de Ajalvir, Km 4, 28850 Torrejoń de Ardoz, Madrid, Spain Organic Chemistry Department, Universidad Autońoma de Madrid, Cantoblanco, 28049 Madrid, Spain

Prebiotic systems chemistry: new perspectives for the origins of life.

Carbohelicenes are a class of fascinating chiral helical molecules which have a rich history in chemistry. Over a period of almost 100 years, chemists have developed many methods to prepare them in a racemic or in a non-racemic form. They also possess a series of interesting chiral, physical, electronic and optical properties. However, their utilization in chemistry or chemistry-related fields has rarely appeared in a detailed and comprehensive review. It is the purpose of this review to collect fundamental applications and functions involving carbohelicenes in various disciplines such as in materials science, in nanoscience, in biological chemistry and in supramolecular chemistry. From the numerous synthetic methodologies reported up to now, carbohelicenes and their derivatives can be tailor-made for a better involvement in several subfields. Among those domains are: nanosciences, chemosensing, liquid crystals, molecular switches, polymers, foldamers, supramolecular materials, molecular recognition, conductive and opto-electronic materials, nonlinear optics, chirality studies and asymmetric synthesis. Helicene chemistry is now at a developmental stage, where sufficient application data are now collected and are extremely useful. They provide many more ideas for setting up the basis for future innovative applications.

One hundred years of helicene chemistry. Part 3: applications and properties of carbohelicenes

We report experimental results that show a large and symmetric population of D and L crystals moving
into complete chiral purity, with one of the enantiomers completely disappearing. The results indicate (i) a
new symmetry breaking process incompatible with the hypothesis of an initial single chiral phase or
‘‘mother crystal,’’ (ii) that total symmetry breaking and complete chiral purity can be achieved from a
system that initially includes both enantiomers, and (iii) that this is achieved through a nonlinear
autocatalytic-recycling process.

Chiral Symmetry Breaking during Crystallization: Complete Chiral Purity induced by Nonlinear Autocatalysis and Recycling

Many apparently achiral organic molecules on Earth may be chiral because of random substitution of the 1.11% naturally abundant 13C for 12C in an enantiotopic moiety within the structure. However, chirality from this source is experimentally difficult to discern because of the very small difference between 13C and 12C. We have demonstrated that this small difference can be amplified to an easily seen experimental outcome using asymmetric autocatalysis. In the reaction between pyrimidine-5-carbaldehyde and diisopropylzinc, addition of chiral molecules in large enantiomeric excess that are, however, chiral only by virtue of isotope substitution causes a slight enantiomeric excess in the zinc alkoxide of the produced pyrimidyl alkanol. Asymmetric autocatalysis then leads to pyrimidyl alcohol with a large enantiomeric excess. The sense of enantiomeric excess of the product alcohol varies consistently with the sense of the excess enantiomer of the carbon isotopically chiral compound.

https://science.sciencemag.org/content/sci/324/5926/492.full.pdf

Asymmetric autocatalysis triggered by carbon isotope (13C/12C) chirality.

Achiral Nucleobase Cytosine Acts as an Origin of Homochirality of Biomolecules in Conjunction with Asymmetric Autocatalysis

Spontaneous absolute asymmetric synthesis in the presence of achiral silica gel in conjunction with asymmetric autocatalysis

Highly enantioenriched 5-pyrimidyl alkanol was formed using tetrathia-[7]-helicenes as a chiral initiator in the enantioselective addition of diisopropylzinc to pyrimidine-5-carbaldehyde, in conjunction with asymmetric autocatalysis

Enantioselective synthesis induced by tetrathia-[7]-helicenes in conjunction with asymmetric autocatalysis

The enantioselective formation of chiral crystal of achiral nucleobase cytosine was achieved mediated by the crystal direction selective dehydration of crystal water in the achiral crystal of cytosine monohydrate (P21/c). Heat transfer from the enantiotopic face of the single crystal of cytosine monohydrate afforded the enantiomorphous crystal of anhydrous cytosine.

https://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdf/10.1021/ja1000938

Kenta Suzuki

Papers

Asymmetric autocatalysis triggered by carbon isotope (13C/12C) chirality.

Achiral Nucleobase Cytosine Acts as an Origin of Homochirality of Biomolecules in Conjunction with Asymmetric Autocatalysis

Spontaneous absolute asymmetric synthesis in the presence of achiral silica gel in conjunction with asymmetric autocatalysis

Enantioselective synthesis induced by tetrathia-[7]-helicenes in conjunction with asymmetric autocatalysis

Generation of absolute controlled crystal chirality by the removal of crystal water from achiral crystal of nucleobase cytosine.