The separation mechanism proposed in (Atencio 2012) is not based on mechanical resolution, hydrodynamic separation, hydrodynamic resolution, or mechanical selection in the sense in which these words are commonly used and are used by Tencer and Bielski (2011, 2012), Hirschfelder et al. (1977), or De Gennes (1999).
Therefore the remarks of Tencer and Bielski (2012) are not relevant to the mechanism proposed in the cited article.
In the mechanism put forward in Atencio (2012), in “achiral chromatography” (“achiral-phase chromatography”) Charles and Gil-Av (1984), Cundy and Crooks (1983) and Soloshonok (2006) and in other usual chromatographic methods of separation of chiral molecules, the chiral molecules need not maintain their orientation to be separated. Rotational diffusion does not impede the separation.
In “achiral chromatography” and in the mechanism considered in Atencio (2012) two enantiomers may be separated in an achiral environment when their concentrations are different, and thus the entire system (achiral environment + enantiomers) is chiral. The velocities of the two enantiomers are then different provided the chiral molecules interact (in order to feel the chirality of the system), for example, they form dimers.
References
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Tencer M, Bielski R (2011) Mechanical resolution of chiral objects in achiral media: where is the size limit? Chirality 23:144–147
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Atencio, A. Response to Tencer and Bielski. Orig Life Evol Biosph 42, 375–376 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11084-012-9273-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11084-012-9273-6