Chiral recognition of ethers by NMR spectroscopy

Synthesis of lanthanide tag and experimental studies on paramagnetically induced residual dipolar couplings

Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy is an indispensable technique for the structure elucidation of molecules and determination of their characteristic interactions. Residual Dipolar Coupling (RDC) is an NMR parameter that provides global orientation information of molecules but necessitates the use of an anisotropic orientation medium for the partial alignment of the target molecule with respect to the magnetic field. Importantly, anisotropic paramagnetic tags have been successful as orienting media in biomolecular NMR applications but their use in small organic molecules remains imperfect due to challenges in designing functional lanthanide complexes with varying degrees of bonding in the Ln(III) inner coordination sphere. In this study, we propose a strategy for the synthesis of the lanthanide tag 4-mercaptomethylpyridine-2,6-dicarboxylic acid, 4-MMDPA and the measurement of RDCs in a target molecule using several paramagnetic lanthanide complexes.

Twisted paddlewheel rhodium complexes: Contribution of central and axial chirality to ECD, VCD, and NMR spectra

Dirhodium complexes bearing N-substituted chiral amino acid ligands are investigated. These complexes have an unusual twisted paddlewheel structure, showing inherent chirality. We would like to demonstrate that parallel application of chiroptical spectroscopic methods (ECD and VCD) and NMR spectroscopy combined with quantum chemical calculations constitutes a powerful tool to determine the configuration of the complexes unequivocally. Two chiroptical methods are needed to determine the absolute configuration: ECD for the coordinated nitrogen atom and VCD for the rhodium core. A quick to use NMR method is also presented: Upon the coordination of small molecules in the axial position, the relative configuration of both the rhodium core and the nitrogen atom can be determined simultaneously by studying spatial proximities provided by 1D NOE spectra.

A vibrational circular dichroism (VCD) methodology for the measurement of enantiomeric excess in chiral compounds in the solid phase and for the complementary use of NMR and VCD techniques in solution: the camphor case

For the first time, the success of a methodology for the determination of enantiomeric excess (% ee) in chiral solid samples by vibrational circular dichroism (VCD) spectroscopy is reported. We have used camphor to determine the % ee in a blind sample constituted by a mixture of its two enantiomers as a test for the validity of our approach. IR and VCD spectra of different enantiomeric mixtures of R/S-camphor in Nujol mulls were recorded and linear regressions of VCD intensities (ΔAbs.) vs. % ee for selected bands were found. Finally, the VCD intensities of a blind sample were interpolated in these linear regressions, obtaining its % ee with a rms of 2.4. These results in the solid phase were complemented with the determination of % ee in the liquid phase by VCD and NMR techniques, which are proved to be complementary techniques to carry out this kind of analysis. In the same way as in the VCD solid phase, linear regressions of ΔAbs. vs. % ee for selected bands were established, obtaining a rms of 1.1 in the % ee determination of a blind sample. ¹H NMR experiments at 600 MHz using the chiral solvating agent, (S,S)-ABTE, allow the determination of the proportions of enantiomers in CD₂Cl₂ solution with great accuracy. ¹³C CPMAS NMR spectra prove that this technique cannot be used for conglomerates and/or solid solutions.

NMR detection of chirality and enantiopurity of amines by using benzene tricarboxamide-based hydrogelators as chiral solvating agents

The use of gelator 1D as a means for NMR-based determination of the enantiopurity and chirality of amines.

Reactivity-based dynamic covalent chemistry: reversible binding and chirality discrimination of monoalcohols

In an effort to develop reactivity-based dynamic covalent bonding and to expand the scope and application of the dynamic covalent chemistry, in situ-generated simple generic iminium ions were utilized for the dynamic covalent binding of monoalcohols with high affinity. Hammett analysis was conducted to manipulate the equilibrium and correlate with the reactivity of reactants. The structural features of aldehydes and secondary amines were identified, and both polar and steric effects have significant impact on the binding. In particular, the substrates which can participate in π-π and polar-π interactions are able to afford apparent equilibrium constants in the magnitude of 10(4) M(-2), demonstrating the power of weak supramolecular forces to stabilize the dynamic covalent assembly. The generality of the assembly was validated with a series of mono secondary alcohols. To showcase the practicality of our system, chirality discrimination and ee measurement of chiral secondary alcohols were achieved.

Porphyrin-based sensor nanoarchitectonics in diverse physical detection modes

Porphyrins and related families of molecules are important organic modules as has been reflected in the award of the Nobel Prizes in Chemistry in 1915, 1930, 1961, 1962, 1965, and 1988 for work on porphyrin-related biological functionalities. The porphyrin core can be synthetically modified by introduction of various functional groups and other elements, allowing creation of numerous types of porphyrin derivatives. This feature makes porphyrins extremely useful molecules especially in combination with their other interesting photonic, electronic and magnetic properties, which in turn is reflected in their diverse signal input-output functionalities based on interactions with other molecules and external stimuli. Therefore, porphyrins and related macrocycles play a preeminent role in sensing applications involving chromophores. In this review, we discuss recent developments in porphyrin-based sensing applications in conjunction with the new advanced concept of nanoarchitectonics, which creates functional nanostructures based on a profound understanding of mutual interactions between the individual nanostructures and their arbitrary arrangements. Following a brief explanation of the basics of porphyrin chemistry and physics, recent examples in the corresponding fields are discussed according to a classification based on physical modes of detection including optical detection (absorption/photoluminescence spectroscopy and energy and electron transfer processes), other spectral modes (circular dichroism, plasmon and nuclear magnetic resonance), electronic and electrochemical modes, and other sensing modes.

NMR spectroscopic detection of chirality and enantiopurity in referenced systems without formation of diastereomers

Enantiomeric excess of chiral compounds is a key parameter that determines their activity or therapeutic action. The current paradigm for rapid measurement of enantiomeric excess using NMR is based on the formation of diastereomeric complexes between the chiral analyte and a chiral resolving agent, leading to (at least) two species with no symmetry relationship. Here we report an effective method of enantiomeric excess determination using a symmetrical achiral molecule as the resolving agent, which is based on the complexation with analyte (in the fast exchange regime) without the formation of diastereomers. The use of N,N'-disubstituted oxoporphyrinogen as the resolving agent makes this novel method extremely versatile, and appropriate for various chiral analytes including carboxylic acids, esters, alcohols and protected amino acids using the same achiral molecule. The model of sensing mechanism exhibits a fundamental linear response between enantiomeric excess and the observed magnitude of induced chemical shift non-equivalence in the (1)H NMR spectra.

Chiral discrimination of amines by anisotropic NMR parameters using chiral polyacrylamide-based gels

A new chiral alignment medium for dimethyl sulfoxide, methanol, and water as solvents was developed. Because both enantiomers of the gel are available, it is possible to enantiodiscriminate natural products such as strychnine HCl that naturally occurs as single enantiomer. With the two methods of achieving anisotropy, namely stretching and confinement, the degree of alignment can be adjusted, and the director changed from horizontal to vertical. This increases the applicability. Three compounds were enantiodiscriminated on the basis of residual dipolar coupling data: mefloquine HCl, strychnine HCl, and menthylamine HCl.

Competition of Ester, Amide, Ether, Carbonate, Alcohol and Epoxide Ligands in the Dirhodium Experiment (Chiral Discrimination by NMR Spectroscopy) [1]

Thirty-eight derivatives of 3-hydroxy-2-methylpropanoic acid, each with two different oxygen functionalities, were synthesized and subjected to the standard dirhodium experiment (1H NMR in the presence of an equimolar amount of the chiral dirhodium tetracarboxylate complex Rh*). Their structures represent ester, amide, carbonate, ether, alcohol and/or epoxy groups. Significant selectivity in the binding of those oxygen groups to the complex were determined. From these results, a priority list in binding to a rhodium atom of Rh* was established:

epoxides > primary alcohols > ethers ≥ esters ≥ amides > carbonates > tertiary alcohols

This sequence allows the prediction of the preferred binding site of oxygen-containing groups in polyfunctional compounds, which frequently occur among natural products, and, particularly, in asymmetric synthesis of such compounds. Differentiation of the enantiomers by the dirhodium experiment is easily accomplished due to numerous signal dispersions in nearly all cases.

Adamantanes as spherical nanosondes in adducts with a chiral dirhodium complex-discriminating enantiomers and probing spatial proximities

Three different kinds of substituted chiral adamantane molecules-adamantanones, dioxolanoadamantanes and dithiolano-adamantanes-were studied in the dirhodium experiment (NMR measurement with 1:1 molar mixtures with Rh((II))(2)[(R)-(+)-MTPA](4) in CDCl(3)). Their different behavior in adduct formation is described, and the possibility of determining enantiomeric purities and absolute configurations is explored. Detailed inspection of one- and two-dimensional NMR experiments allowed for an interpretation of steric and electronic intra-adduct interaction showing that the phenyl groups of Rh* tend to enwrap the bound adamantane ligand so that through-space effects over a range of 6-7 Å away from the binding rhodium atom can be observed. Even slight differences in the relative orientation of phenyl groups can be monitored when comparing diastereomeric adducts via NMR signal dispersion.

Electrochemical method for the determination of enantiomeric excess of binol using redox-active boronic acids as chiral sensors

A chiral ferrocene-based boronic acid interacts with (R)- and (S)-Binol to form two complexes that exhibit significantly different ferrocene-based electrode potentials. This difference in redox behavior can be exploited to demonstrate in principle how high levels of enantiomeric excess in a mixture of enantiomers can be quantified and read-out using an electrochemical method.

Experimental verification of diverging mechanisms in the binding of ether, thioether, and sulfone ligands to a dirhodium tetracarboxylate

Complexation of the oxygen atom in 2-butylphenylethers and sulfur in 2-butylphenylthioethers to a rhodium atom in dirhodium tetracarboxylate Rh((II)) (2)[(R)-(+)-MTPA](4) is compared. Oxygen atoms complex via electrostatic attraction exclusively leading to an increase in alpha effects on C-2 complexation shifts in the sequence OCH(3) > F > Br > NO(2). However, that trend is opposite in thioethers. This can be rationalized by an additional highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO)-LUMO interaction and the response of this interaction upon complex formation shifts. Thereby, an experimental evidence was found for the existence of the HOMO-LUMO binding mechanism which has been proposed previously based on theoretical considerations and indirect spectroscopic evidence. Sulfones hardly bind to Rh((II)) (2)[(R)-(+)-MTPA](4). Diastereomeric dispersion effects at (13)C and (1)H signals can be observed for all compounds indicating that enantiodifferentiation is easy in all classes of functionalities.