New Advances in Stereochemistry

A special issue of Symmetry (ISSN 2073-8994). This special issue belongs to the section "Chemistry: Symmetry/Asymmetry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 April 2023) | Viewed by 2791

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Guest Editor
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309, USA
Interests: liquid crystals; organic semiconductors; stereochemistry

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In 1848, Louis Pasteur provided the first demonstration that molecules can be chiral and accomplished the first resolution of enantiomers, with his “most beautiful experiment in the history of chemistry” (according to 2003 C&EN poll results, available at https://doi.org/10.1021/cen-v081n034.p027).  Since then, chemists have maintained a wonderful and productive love affair with stereochemistry and molecular symmetry/dissymmetry.  In 2021, the Journal Symmetry will celebrate stereochemistry, still beautiful after all these years, with a Special Issue seeking to report recent results in the field including, but certainly not limited to: novel examples of spontaneous achiral symmetry breaking; formation of fluid conglomerates; topological chirality in molecular systems; chirality in polymers; enantioselective synthesis; chirality in organometallic materials; enantioselective host–guest integrations.

Submit your paper and select the Journal “Symmetry” and the Special Issue “New Frontiers in Stereochemistry” via: MDPI submission system. Our papers will be published on a rolling basis and we will be pleased to receive your submission once you have finished it.

Prof. Dr. David Walba
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Symmetry is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Published Papers (1 paper)

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Review

10 pages, 1073 KiB  
Review
The Jahn–Teller and Pseudo-Jahn–Teller Effects: A Unique and Only Source of Spontaneous Symmetry Breaking in Atomic Matter
by Isaac B. Bersuker
Symmetry 2021, 13(9), 1577; https://doi.org/10.3390/sym13091577 - 27 Aug 2021
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2999
Abstract
In a mostly review paper, we show that the important problem of symmetry, broken symmetry, and spontaneous broken symmetry of polyatomic systems is directly related to the Jahn–Teller (JT) and pseudo-Jahn–Teller (PJT) effects, including the hidden-JT and hidden-PJT effects, and these [...] Read more.
In a mostly review paper, we show that the important problem of symmetry, broken symmetry, and spontaneous broken symmetry of polyatomic systems is directly related to the Jahn–Teller (JT) and pseudo-Jahn–Teller (PJT) effects, including the hidden-JT and hidden-PJT effects, and these JT effects (JTEs) are the only source of spontaneous symmetry breaking in matter. They are directly related to the violation of the adiabatic approximation by the vibronic and other nonadiabatic couplings (jointly termed nonadiabaticity) in the interaction between the electrons and nuclei, which becomes significant in the presence of two or more degenerate or pseudodegenerate electronic states. In a generalization of this understanding of symmetry, we suggest an improved (quantum) definition of stereo-chemical polyatomic space configuration, in which, starting with their high-symmetry configuration, we separate all atomic systems into three distinguishable groups: (1) weak nonadiabaticity, stable high-symmetry configurations; (2) moderate-to-strong nonadiabaticity, unstable high-symmetry configurations, JTEs, spontaneous symmetry breaking (SSB); (3) very strong nonadiabaticity, stable distorted configurations. The JTEs, inherent to the second group of systems, produce a rich variety of novel properties, based on their multiminimum adiabatic potential energy surface (APES), leading to a short lifetime in the distorted configuration. We show the role of the Curie principle in the possibilities to observe the SSB in atomic matter, and mention briefly the revealed recently gamma of novel properties of matter in its interaction with external perturbation that occur due to the SSB, including ferroelectricity and orientational polarization, leading to enhanced permittivity and flexoelectricity. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Advances in Stereochemistry)
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