title: Absolute asymmetric synthesis in enantioselective autocatalytic reaction networks: theoretical games, speculations on chemical evolution and perhaps a synthetic option.
abstract: The Soai reaction and the Viedma deracemization of racemic conglomerate crystal mixtures are experimental pieces of evidence of the ability of enantioselective autocatalytic coupled networks to yield absolute asymmetric synthesis. Thermodynamically open systems or systems with non-uniform energy distributions may lead to chiral final states and, in systems able to come into thermodynamic equilibrium with their surroundings, to kinetically controlled absolute asymmetric synthesis. The understanding of network parameters and of the thermodynamic scenarios that may lead to spontaneous mirror symmetry breaking (SMSB) could assist in the development of new methods for asymmetric synthesis and enantioselective polymerizations (e.g., replicators), and to frame reasonable speculations on the origin of biological homochirality.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Cosmos Science, University of Barcelona (IEEC-UB) c. Martí I Franquès 1, 08028 Barcelona, Catalonia (Spain); Department of Organic Chemistry, University of Barcelona c. Martí I Franquès 1, 08028 Barcelona, Catalonia (Spain). jmribo@ub.edu.
authors.forename: Josep M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Ribó
authors.forename: Celia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Blanco
authors.forename: Joaquim
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Crusats
authors.forename: Zoubir
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: El-Hachemi
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hochberg
authors.forename: Albert
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Moyano
keywords: asymmetric synthesis; autocatalysis; chirality; coupled reactions; flow chemistry