Advanced chiral molecular media for enantioselective electrochemistry and electroanalysis

Abstract

An increasing number of strategies and tools have been proposed to endow the electrochemical interphase with chirality, to achieve enantiodiscrimination in analytical and/or preparative applications. So far, chirality has mostly been implemented not only at the electrode surface side but also on the medium one. Recently, the attractiveness of the latter approach has remarkably increased on account of the increasing availability of advanced chiral molecular media with intrinsic attractive features for electrochemistry applications, such as chiral ionic liquids, chiral ionic liquid crystals, and chiral deep eutectic solvents. With respect to solid layer/fixed chiral networks, advanced chiral media can still offer a reasonably high degree of local structuring, while being less demanding concerning preparation and management protocols, as well as less sensitive to fouling/regeneration issues. Different ways to implement chirality in advanced molecular media, including cases of powerful ‘inherent chirality,’ will be presented and discussed, particularly focusing on recent applications in the electrochemical field.