Counteracting Enantiospecific Behavior of Tailor‐Made Additives During Chiral Symmetry Breaking: Growth Inhibition versus Solid‐Solution Formation

Abstract

All biological systems are composed of molecules of a single chirality. Although many different scenarios can lead to chiral symmetry breaking, the transmission of the absolute configuration of one compound to another one remains challenging. We here demonstrate that during crystallization-induced chiral symmetry breaking by Viedma ripening, a cascade of different and counteracting processes can occur: solid-solution formation and dissolution inhibition favor symmetry breaking towards the same absolute configuration, while enantioselective growth inhibition favors symmetry breaking towards the opposite absolute configuration. These insights offer a new playground for controlling symmetry breaking processes that are of fundamental and practical importance.