Crystallization-driven template autocatalysis induces mirror symmetry breaking and amplification
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: A plausible hypothesis for the origin of biological homochirality invokes chiral symmetry breaking, transfer, and amplification driven by autocatalysis. Here we experimentally demonstrate that crystallization-driven template autocatalysis (CDTA) induces mirror symmetry breaking and amplification in helices. CDTA enables the reductive cyclotetramerization of hydrogen-bonded naphthalonitrile precursors into crystalline fibers of naphthalocyanine derivatives. In achiral or racemic systems, a kinetically controlled right-handed helical bias emerges during secondary nucleation and develops into P-helical dominance as the fibers elongate, achieving mirror symmetry breaking. CDTA also transfers the single handedness of chiral seeds formed from enantiopure analogs to achiral naphthalocyanines through template-assisted replication, resulting in chiral amplification. A key mechanistic step involves the preorganization of naphthalonitrile molecules in a counterclockwise direction at the termini of P-helical fibers via J-type π–π stacking and hydrogen-bonding interactions for autocatalytic transformation. Thus, once mirror symmetry is broken, the resulting chiral imbalance is amplified in a self-replicating manner. A plausible hypothesis for the origin of biological homochirality invokes chiral symmetry breaking, transfer, and amplification driven by autocatalysis. Here, the authors experimentally demonstrate that crystallization-driven template autocatalysis induces mirror symmetry breaking and amplification in helices.
Source: Nature Communications
Authors: Huimin Wu, Qingxuan Chen, Duan Gao, Zhen Chen
Language: English
Subfield: Astronomy and Astrophysics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $6,990
OpenAlex ID: W7131848911