Chirality

Linking life to chemistry is always interesting. And here marks the start of a series of analogues that have spun off my wandering mind, always connecting the dots and trying to think like a philosopher (which in fact may be a product of analysis paralysis)

My many years of chemistry education has taught me about chirality pretty comprehensively. The first time i encountered this term was in JC. Just knowing the + and - enantiomers. Then in uni we learnt about defining R and S. CIP rules, etc. And also from the perspective of symmetry, there goes another definition of chirality, one that lacks an improper axis of rotation (Sn).

Something interesting about chirality is the fact that you are the one and only one existing in the realm of molecules, because even your mirror image is non-superimposable, and thus dissimilar. Indeed, every individual is chiral. Yes, if you consider yourself as an object (the tangible), or your attributes & characteristics (intangibles). We are who we are because of many variables in life which we are different from the rest, arising from a myriad of different factors such as culture, upbringing, environment, dispositions etc.

Lets talk about our mirror images - who are they actually? I would like to advocate that they are how we look from others viewpoint, i.e. the side that people see us as. We are real creatures. How we behave is a reflection of our thoughts and beliefs. We act out our life to fulfil our inner motives. We hope as much to be congruent as possible with who we are as a person interacting with the ever-changing environment. Thats why  they are called mirror images - mathematically positioned to be equi-distant from mirror plane etc. It highlights the supposed perception of who we are from the perspective of others vis a vis our true self. We all know that sometimes its not always the case. Sometimes we try to present to others a false side. Lets leave that topic to another day.

There are similarities despite being chiral. But well, enantiomers share many physical properties and chemical properties, only different with respect of its behaviour to plane polarised light.  We as individuals share common social characteristics, behavioural responses and thought patterns at large. When we are subjected to ethical norms and society benchmarks, we are moulded into right-thinking individuals according to these beacons. We adhere to these beliefs that forge us to our identity as a group. These groups could be cliques, organisations, associations, institutions or even race, religion, and ethnic in nature. Important point here is that we are always classified, categorised and structurally defined to surface our usefulness and value in the world we live in.

In the 3-dimensional world, chirality gives specificity to the molecule. Enzymes in our body require specificity to function properly. Scents differ significantly just because of the difference in the chirality of one stereogenic centre. Chirality unleashes trememdous functional implications. Humans do as well. The attributes we have, the defining characteristics of who we are, are often have its value and implications in our lives. 天生我才必有用. This chinese proverb explains it all. However eccentric we are, we will always be complementary to someone. We will always be able to derive our self-worth in a meaningful way. 天底下必有你容身之处. You are the key. And there will be a lock. Remember the lock and key hypothesis?

Some of us then question - then how about the ability to change ourselves? If we are a bad person (from a molecular point of view maybe a pathogenic molecule or toxin), can we transform into something better? Well, i am a firm believer in humanistic psychology, and yes i will let you know how chemistry also endorses the human potential for change. Well you see, chirality in a molecule can be lost in many ways. Organic chemistry tells us that simple tautomerism may destroy chiral centres. Condensation reactions may eliminate chiral centres. In fact, a list of reactions may do so. Addition reactions can re create chiral centres. And here you go, a set of reactions that can eliminate and generate chiral centres. To take it further, assymetric synthesis allows you to synthesize the exact chirality at the atom of interest. Whew! Interesting isn't it? This begs the question: are we able to cultivate characteristics that we want?

I may have lost some of my readers in the last paragraph because of chemistry content. But nevertheless, i know you guys trust me that i know my chemistry well :P In fact, the concept of chirality in chemistry can have many interesting parallels in our lives. Share with me if you have some! You'll never know what happens when 2 chiral molecules react together. The potential is endless :)