Chiral discrimination and recognition in Langmuir monolayers

Chiral discrimination is a phenomenon where one chiral molecule can distinguish the identical molecule, the molecule which is its mirror image or a different chiral molecule. This is one of the most subtle aspects of molecular recognition. The present review discusses recent molecular studies of chiral discrimination as recognition phenomena. The focus is at the molecules in Langmuir monolayers at air/water interface. Recent detailed experiments and molecular theoretical developments show that it is possible to correlate the chiral discrimination starting from molecular structure concerned. (C) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.