Equilibrum and Nonequilibrium Chemical Reactions of Helicene Oligomers in the Noncovalent Bond Formation

• Published in: Bulletin of the Chemical Society of Japan Vol. 89; no. 10; pp. 1145 - 1169
• Main Authors: Yamaguchi, Masahiko, Arisawa, Mieko, Shigeno, Masanori, Saito, Nozomi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Tokyo The Chemical Society of Japan 15.10.2016; Chemical Society of Japan
• Series: The Chemical Society of Japan Award for 2015
• Subjects: Chemical reactions; Equilibrium; Molecular structure
• ISSN: 0009-2673; 1348-0634
• DOI: 10.1246/bcsj.20160133

Chemical reactions involving noncovalent bond formation are discussed with regard to the equilibrium and nonequilibrium states: An equilibrium-to-equilibirum chemical reaction involves change of equilibrium states by changing the environment; a nonequilibrium-to-equilibrium reaction involves change of metastable state to equilibrium. Complex nature of the chemical reactions, especially in the latter, is shown in terms of the multiple-path nature in the microscopic molecular structure changes and macroscopic concentration changes. Irreversible and reversible nonequilibrium-to-equilibrium chemical reactions are also compared in terms of the multiple-path. Helicene oligomers, which reversibly form double-helix and random-coil by temperature changes, are discussed with regard to the reversible nonequilibrium-to-equilibrium chemical reaction with self-catalysis, where notable chemical phenomena appear under nonequilibrium conditions.