Chiral Biomineralization: Mirror‐Imaged Helical Growth of Calcite with Chiral Phosphoserine Copolypeptides

The O‐phospho‐L ‐serine Ser(P)] containing peptides and proteins play an important role in controlling the morphology of biominerals. The polySer(P)] and copolySer(P)^xAsp^y] affect the calcium carbonate (CaCO₃) morphology and polymorph. The CaCO₃ helical structures were obtained in the presence of copolySer(P)⁷⁵Asp²⁵]. When the L ‐copolymer was used as an additive, a clockwise P twisted spiral morphology was formed. On the other hand, when using D ‐copolymer, a counterclockwise M twisted spiral morphology was obtained.

Optical micrographs of chiral morphologies of CaCO₃ in the presence of a) L ‐copolymer and b) D ‐copolymer.