Meta-Diastereomers Hierarchical Multiscale Chiral Interactions Between Biomolecules and Nanoscale Enantiomers

TL;DR

This paper introduces meta-diastereomers, hierarchical chiral systems combining molecular and nanoscale chirality, demonstrating their optical properties and potential for biosensing and nanophotonics.

Contribution

It presents the concept of meta-diastereomers, a new class of hierarchical chiral systems, and shows their application in probing biomolecular interactions with optical readouts.

Findings

Meta-diastereomers exhibit unique optical responses due to combined chirality.

Demonstrated label-free detection of antibody-antigen interactions.

Established a platform for hierarchical chiral nanophotonics and biosensing.

Abstract

We introduce meta-diastereomers, hybrid systems where molecular chirality ($\leq 10$\,nm) and nanoscale chirality ($>100$\,nm) combine to create a new hierarchical chiral state with emergent optical properties. By coupling chiral biomolecules electrostatically with enantiomeric silicon nanostructures, we demonstrate how distinct chiral systems can interact to produce optical responses -- linear and circular dichroism -- that reflect the combined chirality of both components. This unique interplay of chirality across scales represents a conceptual advance in chiral nanophotonics. Importantly, we leverage the meta-diastereomers to probe a model antibody-antigen interaction, analogous to how molecular diastereomers are used in chemistry to investigate chiral structures. This work establishes a platform for label-free, highly specific detection of biomolecular interactions and opens new avenues for exploring hierarchical chirality in optics, biosensing, and quantum technologies.