L’ISCR à l’avant-garde des systèmes moléculaires chiraux
Abstract
Ubiquitous in Nature, molecular chirality has long been a fundamental aspect of modern chemistry. Initially recognized for its crucial role in pharmacology, where a simple asymmetry can transform the biological activity of a molecule, this property, related to three-dimensional molecular structure, has gradually revealed a much broader potential. Over the past two decades, chirality has become a key factor in the development of functional molecular materials, paving the way for unprecedented optical and electronic properties. These various nuances of chirality, at the intersection of chemistry, physics, and biology, are illustrated in this article, which reviews twenty years of research dedicated to molecular chirality at the Institute of Chemical Sciences of Rennes (ISCRC). From a fundamental perspective, researchers in Rennes aim to understand the origin of homochirality on Earth and debate its possible link to the origin of life. The Rennes teams are also distinguished by their development of chiral ligands and molecular catalysts for applications in asymmetric synthesis. In parallel, particularly original chiral molecular architectures built on the unique expertise of the ISCR are also being created to address more recent challenges related to chirality properties. These include exploring and controlling the selective interaction of chiral molecules with circularly polarized light, magnetic fields, or electronic spin. These rapidly growing areas are opening new research directions for the laboratory in fields as diverse as display technologies, cryptography, and spintronics. This article highlights representative examples (chiral radicals, helicenes, N-heterocyclic carbenes, Möbius geometry hexaphyrins, lanthanides, etc.).
BibTeX
@article{crassous2026liscr,
title = {{L’ISCR à l’avant-garde des systèmes moléculaires chiraux}},
author = {Jeanne Crassous and Ludovic Favereau and Jean-Claude Guillemin and Claudia Lalli and Stéphane Le Gac and Marc Mauduit},
journal = {L'Actualité Chimique},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.63133/scf.act-chim.2026.516.12},
url = {https://hal.science/hal-05773385v1},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - L’ISCR à l’avant-garde des systèmes moléculaires chiraux
AU - Jeanne Crassous
AU - Ludovic Favereau
AU - Jean-Claude Guillemin
AU - Claudia Lalli
AU - Stéphane Le Gac
AU - Marc Mauduit
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/02
JO - L'Actualité Chimique
DO - 10.63133/scf.act-chim.2026.516.12
UR - https://hal.science/hal-05773385v1
AB - Ubiquitous in Nature, molecular chirality has long been a fundamental aspect of modern chemistry. Initially recognized for its crucial role in pharmacology, where a simple asymmetry can transform the biological activity of a molecule, this property, related to three-dimensional molecular structure, has gradually revealed a much broader potential. Over the past two decades, chirality has become a key factor in the development of functional molecular materials, paving the way for unprecedented optical and electronic properties. These various nuances of chirality, at the intersection of chemistry, physics, and biology, are illustrated in this article, which reviews twenty years of research dedicated to molecular chirality at the Institute of Chemical Sciences of Rennes (ISCRC). From a fundamental perspective, researchers in Rennes aim to understand the origin of homochirality on Earth and debate its possible link to the origin of life. The Rennes teams are also distinguished by their development of chiral ligands and molecular catalysts for applications in asymmetric synthesis. In parallel, particularly original chiral molecular architectures built on the unique expertise of the ISCR are also being created to address more recent challenges related to chirality properties. These include exploring and controlling the selective interaction of chiral molecules with circularly polarized light, magnetic fields, or electronic spin. These rapidly growing areas are opening new research directions for the laboratory in fields as diverse as display technologies, cryptography, and spintronics. This article highlights representative examples (chiral radicals, helicenes, N-heterocyclic carbenes, Möbius geometry hexaphyrins, lanthanides, etc.).
SN - 0151-9093
SN - 2105-2409
ER -