Chapter 3: Asymmetric Autocatalysis Triggered by the Chirality of Minerals, Organic Crystals, and Surfaces

The crystal chirality and surface chirality of achiral compounds is an attractive topic not only for the development of chiral separation and detection techniques but also for the study of the origin of homochirality. The phenomenon of achiral compounds forming chiral crystals is not that rare. Even in the case of chiral crystals, if we focus on the surface chirality, few substances have no chirality at all. In this chapter, we will show that the chirality of crystals and surfaces can act as the origin of molecular chirality by leveraging the high chiral amplification of asymmetric autocatalysis.