New Molecule With Switchable Chirality

Nanotechnology writes: "Available here, The molecule was developed by adding copper ions to a derivative of the amino acid methionine. The investigators were then able to switch the molecule's chirality by the addition or removal of an electron. Furthermore, they found that the molecule's chirality could be switched repeatedly, and that the two forms of the molecules polarized light in opposite directions." Especially interesting is this line from The Canary Lab's home page ("Research"): "We are also scrutinizing other aspects of signal detection technology. We prepared a new polymer very similar in structure to polyaniline ... The new polymer was designed to serve as a molecular wire for attaching electrochemical sensor molecules to electrodes."

Comments

Re:okay, so what?

[Anonymous Coward]

A chiral compound is one that is 'non-superimposable with its mirror image'. In other words, it can exist in 'right-handed' and 'left-handed' forms.

There are a variety of reasons for worrying about chirality. As mentioned, chiral molecules rotate the plane of polarised light. This can be used for display tech - imagine two polaroid filters paralell to each other, each polarising at a different angle. Light comes in, gets polarised by the first filter, and can't get through because its polarised at the wrong angle. Now stick a layer of your switchable-chiral molecule inbetweem the filters. If its in one form, then it rotates the polarisation of the polarised light to match the other filter, and light goes through. In the other form, it does it in the opposite direction, and the polarised light is at a different 'wrong' angle, and doesn't get through. Use lots of little bits of switchable compound, and you have a nice LCD-like display. You can do something similar with one filter and a mirror, too.

Or how about nanotech? Put electrons into/take electrons out of these molecules, and they change shape. Have these molecules in contact with other molecules, and you can cause shape-changes in those, too (possibly causing them to gain/lose electrons). Could be used for molecular machinery, or for 'molecular computers', which use such molecules instead of conventional semicondutor tech.