Experimental Tests of Parity Violation at Helical Polysilylene Level

With respect to the origin of biomolecular handedness, a long-standing issue is whether mirror-image molecules are energetically identical. A few theorists presumed that the very tiny, parity-violating weak neutral current at molecular level may distinguish between mirror-image molecules, and proposed several amplification and detection mechanisms. Here we report a possibility of detecting differences in chiroptical and achiral 29Si NMR and viscometric data of an enantiomeric pair between certain helical organopolysilylenes bearing 96% ee chiral pendants.