2D membrane sieves out amino acid enantiomers

Separating enantiomers is crucial when it comes to making drugs as left-handed and right-handed mirror image molecules can have very different effects in the body. Most chemosynthetic processes naturally produce racemic mixtures, however, and separating different enantioners can be tricky. But now researchers in China and Korea have created a self-assembled membrane that selectively absorbs one enantiomer from solution, before releasing it on the addition of a salt.