Origin of the specific molecular spin polarization underlying magnetically assisted enantiomer separation

Establish the relationship between the specific spin polarization of chiral molecules responsible for their differential interaction with a magnetized surface in magnetically assisted enantiomer separation and the proposed CISS ingredients—molecular chirality, atomic spin–orbit coupling, decoherence, and tunneling—by identifying the polarization direction and the mechanism linking these sources to the observed separation.

Background

Experiments have shown that racemic mixtures of chiral molecules can be differentially adsorbed by magnetized surfaces, enabling enantiomer separation. A preliminary explanation attributes this to CISS-induced spin polarization at molecular termini affecting surface interactions.

The authors note that the concrete linkage between the specific spin polarization responsible for the separation and the universal CISS ingredients they advocate (chirality, spin–orbit coupling, decoherence, and tunneling) has not yet been explicitly addressed.