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Photochemistry

Enantioselective light absorption drives kinetic resolution

Achieving enantioselectivity directly through light absorption is a long-standing challenge in photochemistry. Now, light can resolve racemic mixtures at the very moment of photon capture — enabling elegant kinetic resolution via chiral electron donor–acceptor complexes.

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Fig. 1: Kinetic resolution via enantiodifferential light absorption in electron donor–acceptor complexes.

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Correspondence to Charnsak Thongsornkleeb.

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Tummatorn, J., Thongsornkleeb, C. Enantioselective light absorption drives kinetic resolution. Nat. Chem. (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41557-025-01975-w

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