Journal of Physical Chemistry A, Vol.110, No.18, 5982-5984, 2006
Empirical description of chiral autocatalysis
The only known example of chiral autocatalysis is the alkylation of N-heterocyclic aldehydes with iPr(2)Zn (Soai reaction). The mechanism and some details of this reaction are not yet clear. An empirical formula is proposed here for the description of this chiral autocatalytic reaction. This formula allows the calculation of some very informative parameters.