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Frontispiece: Understanding Silica from the Viewpoint of Asymmetry
Author(s) -
Jin RenHua
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
chemistry – a european journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Reports
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.687
H-Index - 242
eISSN - 1521-3765
pISSN - 0947-6539
DOI - 10.1002/chem.201982563
Subject(s) - tetrahedron , silicon , silicate , asymmetry , crystallography , monomer , materials science , chemistry , nanotechnology , organic chemistry , physics , polymer , quantum mechanics
Silicon is an abundant element in the Earth's crust , with top deposits of 28 %. Si is almost entirely tetrahedral with the oxygen‐coordinated form of SiO 4 . Monomeric silicate of [SiO 4 ] 4− is, of course, a symmetric tetrahedron, but this is not true in the case of the framework of polysilicates (SiO 2 ), which possess cyclic and intricate network structures. The structure of silica based on the accumulation of SiO 4 tetrahedrons is practically asymmetric owing to the formation of irregular tetrahedrons with different bond lengths and bond angles on Si−O, and thus, the protocol of enantioselective synthesis is applicable in the preparation of chiral silica. For more information, see the Minireview by Ren‐Hua Jin on page 6270 ff.