Naaman Ron, Paltiel Yossi, Waldeck David H
Department of Chemical and Biological Physics, Weizmann Institute, Rehovot, Israel; email:
Applied Physics Department and Center for Nano-Science and Nano-Technology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel.
Annu Rev Biophys. 2022 May 9;51:99-114. doi: 10.1146/annurev-biophys-083021-070400. Epub 2021 Dec 21.
Chirality in life has been preserved throughout evolution. It has been assumed that the main function of chirality is its contribution to structural properties. In the past two decades, however, it has been established that chiral molecules possess unique electronic properties. Electrons that pass through chiral molecules, or even charge displacements within a chiral molecule, do so in a manner that depends on the electron's spin and the molecule's enantiomeric form. This effect, referred to as chiral induced spin selectivity (CISS), has several important implications for the properties of biosystems. Among these implications, CISS facilitates long-range electron transfer, enhances bio-affinities and enantioselectivity, and enables efficient and selective multi-electron redox processes. In this article, we review the CISS effect and some of its manifestations in biological systems. We argue that chirality is preserved so persistently in biology not only because of its structural effect, but also because of its important function in spin polarizing electrons.
生命中的手性在整个进化过程中得以保留。人们一直认为手性的主要功能在于其对结构性质的贡献。然而，在过去二十年中，已证实手性分子具有独特的电子性质。穿过手性分子的电子，甚至手性分子内部的电荷位移，都以一种取决于电子自旋和分子对映体形式的方式进行。这种效应被称为手性诱导自旋选择性（CISS），对生物系统的性质有几个重要影响。在这些影响中，CISS促进长程电子转移，增强生物亲和力和对映选择性，并实现高效且选择性的多电子氧化还原过程。在本文中，我们综述了CISS效应及其在生物系统中的一些表现。我们认为，手性在生物学中如此持久地保留，不仅是因为其结构效应，还因为其在使电子自旋极化方面的重要功能。
