The Mirror of Galadriel: looking at chiral and achiral crystal structures

Abstract

Illustrative examples are provided of infrequent situations arising in the chiral or achiral crystal structures formed of chiral or achiral molecules. For absolute-configuration determination by way of structure analysis, it is demonstrated how powerful characterization of enantiomers by way of CD spectra and enantioselective chromatography can be when working on the single crystal used in the diffraction analysis. Common misunderstandings in the description of non-centrosymmetric achiral crystal structures are clarified. Further attention is given to questions of nomenclature.