Macroscopically chiral system of three independent orientational effects as a condition for absolute asymmetric synthesis

The paper introduces the concept of using three independent, macroscopic factors affecting mutual orientation of the reactant molecules to accomplish absolute asymmetric synthesis. Unlike with other methodologies of asymmetric synthesis in physical fields, none of the utilized factors is chiral in itself (as, e.g., circularly polarized light would be), but the combination of the three constitutes a macroscopically chiral influence. Examples of applicable directional factors are time-even vector fields (e.g., electric field and the directional effects of surfaces and interfaces) and the time-odd directional transport with encounter control. The directional factors employed may act simultaneously or, if their effect can be preserved, consecutively, thus allowing, e.g., a repeat use of the electric field. The electric field strength needed to achieve a practically useful degree of molecular orientation was estimated to be ca. 3 MV/cm, which is now commonly achieved with organic materials in the area of nonlinear optics. Practical implications are discussed, as well as the implications for the origins of natural homochirality.