Flattened Cone 2,8,14,20-Tetrakis(L-valinamido)[4]resorcinarene: An Enantioselective Allosteric Receptor in the Gas Phase

Enantioselective supramolecular carriers for nucleoside drugs. A thermodynamic and kinetic gas phase investigation

The enantioselective interactions between chiral tetra-amidic receptors and nucleosides have been investigated by the ESI-IT-MS and ESI-FT-ICR-MS methodologies. Configurational effects on the CID fragmentation of diastereomeric [M(H)(2)•H•A](+) aggregates (A = 2'-deoxycytidine dC, citarabine (ara-C) were found to be mostly offset by isotope effect in [S(X)(2)•H•A](+) (X = H, D) differently from the results obtained on the analogues (A = cytidine C and gemcitabine G). This result points the involvement of two different nucleoside/tetraamide isoforms. The structural differences of the [M(H)(2)•H•A](+) (A = C and G) complexes vs. the [M(H)(2)•H•A](+) (dC and ara-C) ones is fully confirmed by the kinetics of their uptake of the 2-aminobutane enantiomers, measured by FT-ICR mass spectrometry. Indeed, uptake of the 2-aminobutane enantiomers by [M(H)(n)•H•A](+) (n = 1,2; A = dC and ara-C) complexes is reversible, while that by [M(H)(n)•H•A](+) (n = 1,2; A = C and G) is not. The most encouraging result concerning the measured fragmentation and kinetic differences between C and ara-C, that are just epimers, indicates the possibility to subtly modulate the non-covalent drug/receptor interactions, through the electronic properties of the 2'-substituent on the nucleoside furanose ring, and furthermore on its three-dimensional position.

Gas-Phase Enantioselectivity of Chiral Amido[4]resorcinarene Receptors

Diastereomeric proton-bound [1(L)HA]+ complexes between selected amino acids (A=phenylglycine (Phg), tryptophan (Trp), tyrosine methyl ester (TyrOMe), threonine (Thr), and allothreonine (AThr)) and a chiral amido[4]resorcinarene receptor (1(L)) display a significant enantioselectivity when undergoing loss of the amino acid guest A by way of the enantiomers of 2-aminobutanes (B) in the gas phase. The enantioselectivity of the B-to-A displacement is ascribed to a combination of thermodynamic and kinetic factors related to the structure and the stability of the diastereomeric [1(L)HA]+ complexes and of the reaction transition states. The results of the present and previous studies allow classification of the [1(L)HA]+ complexes in three main categories wherein: i) guest A does not present any additional functionalities besides the amino acid one (alanine (Ala), Phg, and phenylalanine (Phe)); ii) guest A presents an additional alcohol function (serine (Ser), Thr, and AThr); and iii) guest A contains several additional functionalities on its aromatic ring (tyrosine (Tyr), TyrOMe, Trp, and 3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (DOPA)). Each category exhibits a specific enantioselectivity depending upon the predominant [1(L)HA]+ structures and the orientation of the 2-aminobutane reactant in the relevant adducts observed. The results may contribute to the understanding of the exceptional selectivity and catalytic properties of enzyme mimics towards unsolvated biomolecules.