CHIRALITY OF LARGE RANDOM SUPRAMOLECULAR STRUCTURES

The structural chirality of large, random supramolecular structures, s piral diffusion-limited aggregates, is analyzed and studied in detail by using a continuous chirality measure. It is found that classical de finitions and terminologies of chirality are too restrictive for the d escription of such complex objects. A refined methodology and a concep tual vocabulary are developed, along with a generalized definition of chirality. Their application is demonstrated in detail on these large structures. The classical definition of chirality, tailored for small, nonrandom species, is a limiting case of the generalized viewpoint we propose.