# gst: a screw mechanism to separate realistic racemic mixtures by local vorticity

AA developed << an explanatory "screw"  model for predicting the shear-flow separation of enantiomers >>

<< Enantiomers of chiral molecules are non-superposable mirror images with the same structural formula. In achiral environments, enantiomers have identical physical and chemical properties, and this prevents separation by classical methods. >>

<< A screw is a simple chiral object that couples rotation around one axis with displacement along that axis. This displacement is perpendicular to the plane of rotation and is characterized by the screw’s pitch (or lead). Here (it is defined) pitch (P) as the perpendicular distance advanced by a screw in a 2π-revolution. In a lab-fixed frame, left-and right-handed screws have pitches with the same magnitude, but with flipped signs, rotating in opposite directions to do the same task. This concept can be easily extended to chiral molecules by considering the translation-rotation coupling tensor (..). In a medium which induces rotation of molecules (as in a vortex flow), chiral molecules will translate in opposite directions. As a consequence, this asymmetry may enable the resolution of the enantiomers. >>

Thus  a << competition model and continuum drift diffusion equations are developed to predict separation of realistic racemic mixtures. (..) Additionally, (AA) find that certain achiral objects can also exhibit a non-zero molecular pitch. >>

<< Although it has been used << shear flow as the source to rotate the chiral molecules and achieve separation, it may be possible to use external forces to rotate the enantiomers >>️

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Duraes A, Gezelter JD. Separation of Enantiomers through Local Vorticity: A Screw Model Mechanism. ChemRxiv. Cambridge: Cambridge Open Engage; Vers 1. doi: 10.33774/ chemrxiv-2021-196zw. Oct 04, 2021. 

https://chemrxiv.org/engage/chemrxiv/article-details/61575a0d46030a1245c52107  

keywords: gst, vortices, separation, enantiomeric separation, racemic mixture, screw mechanism, translation-rotation coupling, transitions.