Inside Cover: Enantiospecific Desorption Triggered by Circularly Polarized Light (Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 44/2019)
Graphical Abstract
Exposing racemic samples of 1,1′-bi-2-naphthol (BINOL) coated onto achiral glass substrates to right or left circularly polarized light leads to preferential desorption of one or the other enantiomer. In their Communication on page 15685 ff., H. Iglev, A. Kartouzian and co-workers show how this effect can be exploited for contamination-free enantioenrichment. A simplified phenomenological model suggests that the contribution of quantum mechanical processes should be explored.