title: Chiral autocatalysis, spontaneous symmetry breaking, and stochastic behavior.
abstract: During the past decade, chirally autocatalytic systems that exhibit unusual and interesting phenomena, such as spontaneous chiral symmetry breaking and stochastic behavior, have been identified. In this Account we outline the context in which chiral autocatalysis is of interest, summarize recent advances, and discuss our current understanding of the underlying kinetics and mechanisms. In addition, we note some fundamental aspects of amplification of enantiomeric excess and sensitivity of symmetry breaking transitions to asymmetric factors.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, North Carolina 27109, USA.
authors.forename: D K
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Kondepudi
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Asakura
mesh_terms: D001704:Biopolymers / Q000737:chemistry*; D002384:Catalysis; D013237:Stereoisomerism; D013816:Thermodynamics
chemical_list: D001704:Biopolymers