1. New Core Curriculum The Asymmetry on a Molecular Scale (Chirality)

2. The Unifying Principle Z A Symmetry and Asymmetry: on a Microscopic Scale

3. Assembly of atoms into Symmetric & Asymmetric molecular architectures & consequences of molecular asymmetry.

4. Carbon with 4 different atoms bond to it creates an Asymmetric Molecule (Chiral Molecule) Enantiomers non-superimposable mirror images (R), D(S), L Chiral Molecules  rotate plane polarized light

5. Demonstration: Building a simple polarimeter light source 2 polarizers cup NaOCl 3 crystals material: demystifying the instrument

6. Demonstration: Building a simple polarimeter

7. The binding specificity of a chiral receptor site for a chiral molecule is usually only favorable in one way (S)-(–)-limonene smells like turpentine (pine) (R)-(+)-limonene has the odor of oranges limonene * Chirality: Smells Differently in the Mirror

8. 2-methylbutanoic acid R-( ‒ ) Cheesy Sweaty Smell S-(+) Fruity Sweet Smell * (S)-(+)-carvone smells like caraway (R)-(–)-carvone smells like spearmint carvone * * *

9. Chirality Governs Drug Action ?  When chiral compounds are introduced into the body, physiological processes show a high degree of chiral distinction;  Essential physiological process are homochiral; Biomolecules are made of units that have the same sense of chirality: PROTEINS L-centered amino acids NUCLEIC ACIDS (DNA & RNA) D-centered sugar units right/left handed helical twist left-handed DNA (atypical)

10. Thalidomide horror, late 1950s Thalidomide, a drug once used to suppress morning sickness (R) vs. (S) (S) Friedman, L.. et al. Science. 1971, 172(3987), 1044-1046. thalidomide * Influence of Chirality on Drug Action

11. non-stimulant Chirality Matters !!! Illegal as the Mirror-image form Methamphetamine stimulant ** Influence of Chirality on Drug Action

12. a) The Origin of Symmetry & Asymmetry on a Microscopic (Molecular) Scale Murchison meteorite, which fell about 60 miles north of Adelaide, Australia in 1969. One of the first reports stated that the amino acids that were found were equally right and left handed. Subsequent reports have been controversial… We have something to eagerly look forward to: Perhaps the answer to the questions regarding the origin of molecular asymmetry on Earth will come in year 2014 ! This is when the robotic lander Philae will detach itself from the orbiter of the Rosetta space craft and land on the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.

13. b) from Microscopic to Macrosocpic Scale, Asymmetry Prevails In 1857, Pasteur has noticed that molds had grown in a dish containing an optically inactive solution, one that did not rotate plane polarized light. Instead of simply throwing away the "contaminated" solution, having curious nature he checked its effect on a light beam. The contaminated solution rotated light! Pasteur viewed handedness as one of the clearest distinctions between living and dead matter and ultimately proclaimed it to be a profound fact of nature that went far beyond the chemistry of life. He wrote the following: "Life as manifested to us is a function of the asymmetry of the universe and of the consequences of this fact." later, before the French Academy of Sciences, he made the grand conjecture, "L'univers est dissymetrique." c) Symmetry & Asymmetry in Living Organisms

14. Symmetry & Asymmetry  the parallel between Science & Art

15. Artwork of M. C. Escher Eric J. Heller Gallery Where science inspires art and art informs science... While a sidelight, Heller said his artwork serves an important purpose. It doesn't just educate the public about physics, it engages them and interests them in what's going on at the atomic level. Drawing Hands, 1948 Still Life with Spherical Mirror, 1934 Balcony, 1945