Introduction to chiral crystallization of achiral organic compounds

Chiral crystallization of optically inactive (achiral) compounds has not been a commonly known phenomenon in organic chemistry. However, large numbers of achiral compounds such as benzophenone, phenol, phenanthrene, etc. are known to crystallize into chiral crystals from their solutions. This review deals with the general aspects of this phenomenon: what is chiral crystallization, how to find organic compounds undergoing chiral crystallization, the preparation of chiral crystals from achiral organic compounds, and the generation of chirality.