More than half of pharmaceutical drugs in use are chiral, necessitating accurate techniques for their characterization. Enantiomers, molecules with mirrored symmetry, often exhibit similar physical traits but possess distinct chemical and biological implications. This study harnesses the strong light-matter interaction induced by “superchiral” light to perform Surface-Enhanced Infrared Absorption (SEIRA) induced vibrational circular dichroism measurements in the mid-infrared spectral region. Utilizing a nanopatterned pixelated array of achiral plasmonic nanostructures, the system allows unique identification of enantiomers and biomolecules. Tunability of plasmon resonance facilitates spectral variation of the optical chirality over a wide infrared range, enabling development of a unique chiral “barcoding” scheme to distinguish chiral molecules based on their infrared fingerprint. This simple, yet robust sensor presents a low-cost solution for chiral mapping of drugs and biomolecules.

中文翻译：

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多光谱分子手性条形码


超过一半的药物是手性的，因此需要准确的技术来表征它们。对映异构体是具有镜像对称性的分子，通常表现出相似的物理特性，但具有不同的化学和生物学意义。本研究利用“超手”光诱导的强光-物质相互作用，在中红外光谱区域进行表面增强红外吸收 （SEIRA） 诱导的振动圆二色性测量。该系统利用非手性等离子体纳米结构的纳米图案化像素化阵列，允许对对映异构体和生物分子进行独特识别。等离子体共振的可调性有助于在较宽的红外范围内实现光学手性的光谱变化，从而能够开发一种独特的手性“条形码”方案，以根据其红外指纹来区分手性分子。这种简单而坚固的传感器为药物和生物分子的手性映射提供了一种低成本的解决方案。