Chiral Cooperativity in Helical Polymers

Human experience informs us of the two extreme consequences of crowding: random behavior of the individuals, in which each takes a singular path; and cooperative behavior, in which the individuals in the crowd act in a predictable uniform manner, such as in a military organization These extremes find parallels in the crowded situations encountered at the molecular level, exemplified for the former by glassy states, such as often encountered in polymeric materials,1 or for the latter, in the uniform archetypal arrangements of crystals or liquid crystals. Here we review the cooperative characteristics of uniform arrangements that take a chiral form and explore how these characteristics lead to left- and right-handedness. These studies lead us to understand the basis of amplification of chirality in regular arrays, in which small influences have large consequences, and how chiral cooperativity acts in the resolution of conflict between influences favoring left- and right-handedness.2