Abstract
THE enantiomorphous forms of optically active compounds can, as a rule, be differentiated by living membranes and epithelia1. To establish the basic mechanisms of such asymmetric resolution, we have carried out experiments with artificial membranes of optically active material. As early as 1928, Keeser2 demonstrated asymmetric diffusion; blocks of gelatine swelled better in solutions of the D-form of tartaric acid, cinchonine and epinephrine than with the L-enantiomorphs. It is therefore surprising that such properties as asymmetric resolution do not seem to have been demonstrated with well-known membranes, even if the membranes consisted of asymmetrical material such as ‘Cellophane’ or collodion (products of cellulose), or of the fresh mucosa of intestinal loops (products of proteins)3, etc.
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KLINGMÜLLER, V., GEDENK, G. Asymmetric Dialysis of Racemates. Nature 179, 367 (1957). https://doi.org/10.1038/179367a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/179367a0
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