Enantioselectivity in gas-phase ion-molecule reactions

Comprehensive understanding of information transfer between chiral molecules in living systems and in supramolecular assemblies requires the quantitative determination of the intrinsic short-range forces controlling enantioselectivity in simplified models, such as diastereomeric ion-molecule complexes in the isolated state. This review article describes the state-of-art in this field. Emphasis is put on the generation of diastereomeric ion-molecule aggregates in the gas phase and the determination of their relative stability and reactivity by mass spectrometric and radiolytic techniques. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.