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A Brief Look at Quantum Optics

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Quantum optics tells us that left (l)- and right (r)-circularly polarized (CP) photon conveys "integer" spin angular momentum, +ℏ and –ℏ, respectively, although photon is massless elemental particle. The nature of "integer" spin obeying Bose-Einstein statics makes plural spins confine in an ultrasmall temporalspace with the same quantum state, meanwhile, "half integer" spin like electron denies to share the same quantum state in a molecular space, well-known as Pauli exclusion principle. Intense CP-photon acts as an energy source that preferentially generate optically active substance from prochiral substances and/or to preferentially decompose one enantiomer from racemic mixtures. On the other hand, weak CP-photon is used as a probe to detect substance chirality in the ground and photoexcited states, known as circular dichroism (CD), optical rotation dispersion (ORD) and circularly polarized luminescence (CPL) spectroscopy.1 Knowledge and understanding an efficient generation and reversibility of optically active substances from achiral precursors in the absence of chiral chemical influence has long been a challenging subject among chemists and scientists. This approach called absolute asymmetric synthesis (AAS) is beneficial to avoid multiple-step synthesis that often require designed catalysts and specific chiral chemical sources with high ee.2 So far, several AASs have been employed, including spontaneous symmetry breaking crystallization, vortex stirring,3f-3h

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