The enantiomers of aminoglutethimide [2-(p-aminophenyl)-2-ethylglutarimide, AGT] can be resolved in CE using all of three most commonly used native cyclodextrins (CD): alpha-, beta-, and gamma-CDs. The migration order of the enantiomers was opposite using beta-CD compared to alpha- and gamma-CDs as chiral selectors. In order to examine some underlying mechanisms of the chiral recognition the interaction of AGT with the chiral selectors was studied with one- and two-dimensional NMR spectroscopy and electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS). The Job's and Scott's plots constructed based on the complexation-induced chemical shifts (CICS) observed in NMR spectra provided some preliminary information on the stoichiometry of the intermolecular complexes but did not seem to be absolutely reliable perhaps because the self-association of the analyte molecules and the formation of multiple type selectand-selector complexes. Therefore, an attempt was made to characterize the complexes using ESI-MS. This technique provided information on the stoichiometry and relative affinity constants of selector-selectand complexes. The information on the structure of complexes in the solution was obtained using one-dimensional rotating frame nuclear Overhauser enhancement (1D-ROESY) NMR spectroscopic studies. Significant differences were observed between the structures of the AGT complexes with beta- and gamma-CD.
The first chiral C2-symmetric 4-pyrrolidinopyridine (PPY) derivative was synthesized in an enantiomerically pure form and successfully utilized as a chiral nucleophilic catalyst for the kinetic resolution of secondary alcohols leaving one enantiomer with high selectivity factors (up to s = 13.5).
Lanthanide tris(beta-diketonates) and porphyrinates acted as effective circular dichroism (CD) probes for chirality sensing of neutral and zwitterionic guests. They were electrically neutralized but formed highly coordinated 1:1 complexes with various guests. When a chiral, non-chromophoric guest was combined with a chromophoric lanthanide probe, the resulting highly coordinated complex exhibited characteristic CD signal, the sign of which was dependent on the absolute configuration of the bound guest. Since there are wide variations of coordinating ligands and lanthanide centers, lanthanide coordination chemistry offers great possibilities for the design of new CD chirality sensory systems especially for biologically important guests.