Sol–gel derived solid chiral materials and their optical activity

Abstract The chiral organic molecules glucose (C 6 H 12 O 6 ) and griseofulvin (C 17 H 17 ClO 6 ) were first uniformly incorporated in sol–gel derived materials. The polarity response, absorption spectra and thermal stability were measured and discussed. The DTA results indicated that the C 6 H 12 O 6 and C 17 H 17 ClO 6 in gels were stable in air at the temperature lower than 210 and 350 °C, respectively. An absorption band at about 1.4 μm due to OH − existed in the infrared absorption spectra of the gels. The similar behaviors of optical activity for the organic chiral molecules in solutions were hold in solid gels. The specific rotations for C 6 H 12 O 6 and C 17 H 17 ClO 6 in gels were −0.95 and −1.45°/cm, corresponding to the chiral parameter 1.55 × 10 −7 and 2.37 × 10 −7 , respectively.