Bisbinaphthyl macrocycle-based highly enantioselective fluorescent sensors for alpha-hydroxycarboxylic acids

[structure: see text] Bisbinaphthyl-based macrocycles are found to carry out highly enantioselective fluorescent recognition of alpha-hydroxycarboxylic acids. It is observed that within a certain concentration range, one enantiomer of the chiral acids can increase the fluorescence intensity of the macrocycles by 2-3-fold, while the other enantiomer scarcely enhances the fluorescence. Such unusually high enantioselective responses make these macrocycles very attractive as fluorescent sensors in determining the enantiomeric composition of alpha-hydroxycarboxylic acids.     

Highly enantioselective fluorescent recognition of α-amino acid derivatives

Bisbinaphthyl-based macrocycles are found to carry out enantioselective fluorescent recognition of α-amino acid derivatives. It is observed that one enantiomer of a N-protected phenyl glycine can increase the fluorescence intensity of the binaphthyl fluorophores by over 4-fold but the other enantiomer does not cause much fluorescence enhancement. This highly enantioselective fluorescent response makes the binaphthyl macrocycles practically useful for the enantioselective fluorescent recognition of the amino acid substrate.     

A highly enantioselective chiral Schiff-base fluorescent sensor for mandelic acid

A chiral Schiff-base compound, 4-methyl-2,6-bis-[(2-hydroxy-1-phenylethylimino)methyl]phenol, is found to act as highly enantioselective fluorescent agent for α-hydroxycarboxylic acid, e.g., mandelic acid. It is observed that, within a certain concentration range, one enantiomer of the chiral acid can increase the fluorescence intensity of the Schiff-base compound 122-fold while the other enantiomer enhances the intensity only 42-fold. Such highly enantioselective responses towards the chiral acid make the unusual Schiff-base compound attractive as a fluorescent sensor for determining the enantiomeric composition of α-hydroxycarboxylic acids.     

Chiral mono boronic acid as fluorescent enantioselective sensor for mono alpha-hydroxyl carboxylic acids

New mono boronic acid was found to be an enantioselective fluorescent chemosensor for mono alpha-hydroxyl carboxylic acids, such as mandelic acid and lactic acid. The chiral sensor shows lower background fluorescence, higher fluorescence enhancement, and enantioselective recognition kinetics toward mandelic acids and lactic acids.     

Fluorescent sensors for the enantioselective recognition of mandelic acid: signal amplification by dendritic branching

Novel chiral bisbinaphthyl compounds have been synthesized for the enantioselective fluorescent recognition of mandelic acid. By introducing dendritic branches to the chiral receptor unit, the fluorescence signals of the receptors are significantly amplified because of the light-harvesting effect of the dendritic structure. This has greatly increased the sensitivity of the sensors in the fluorescent recognition. Study of the three generation sensors demonstrates that the generation zero sensor is the best choice for the recognition of mandelic acid because of its greatly increased fluorescence signal over the core and its high enantioselectivity. This sensor is potentially useful for the high throughput screening of chiral catalysts for the asymmetric synthesis of alpha-hydroxycarboxylic acids.     

Highly enantioselective fluorescent sensor for chiral recognition of amino acid derivatives

A highly enantioselective fluorescent sensor, containing benzylaminomethyl groups at 3,3′-position of 1,1′-bi-2-naphthol (BINOL), has been used to conduct the chiral recognition of α-amino acid derivatives. It is observed that one enantiomer of N-Boc-proline can increase the fluorescence intensity of the binaphthyl fluorophores by over 57-fold, while the other enantiomer can cause only sixfold fluorescence enhancement. Such unusually highly enantioselective response demonstrates that this sensor is potentially useful in the enantioselective recognition of amino acid derivatives.     

Enantioselective recognition of mandelic acid by a 3,6-dithiophen-2-yl-9H-carbazole-based chiral fluorescent bisboronic acid sensor

We have prepared chiral fluorescent bisboronic acid sensors with 3,6-dithiophen-2-yl-9H-carbazole as the fluorophore. The thiophene moiety was used to extend the π-conjugation framework of the fluorophore in order to red-shift the fluorescence emission and, at the same time, to enhance the novel process where the fluorophore serves as the electron donor of the photoinduced electron transfer process (d-PET) of the boronic acid sensors; i.e., the background fluorescence of the sensor 1 at acidic pH is weaker compared to that at neutral or basic pH, in stark contrast to the typical a-PET boronic acid sensors (where the fluorophore serves as the electron acceptor of the photoinduced electron transfer process). The benefit of the d-PET boronic acid sensors is that the recognition of the hydroxylic acids can be achieved at acidic pH. We found that the thiophene moiety is an efficient π-conjugation linker and electron donor; as a result, the d-PET contrast ratio of the sensors upon variation of the pH is improved 10-fold when compared to the previously reported d-PET sensors without the thiophene moiety. Enantioselective recognition of tartaric acid was achieved at acid pH, and the enantioselectivity (total response K(D)I(F)(D)/K(L)I(F)(L)) is 3.3. The fluorescence enhancement (I(F)(Sample)/I(F)(Blank)) of sensor 1 upon binding with tartaric acid is 3.5-fold at pH 3.0. With the fluorescent bisboronic acid sensor 1, enantioselective recognition of mandelic acid was achieved for the first time. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that the mandelic acid has been enantioselectively recognized using a chiral fluorescent boronic acid sensor. Chiral monoboronic acid sensor 2 and bisboronic acid sensor 3 without the thiophene moiety failed to enantioselectively recognize mandelic acid. Our findings with the thiophene-incorporated boronic acid sensors will be important for the design of d-PET fluorescent sensors for the enantioselective recognition of α-hydroxylic acids such as mandelic acid, given that it is currently a challenge to recognize these analytes with boronic acid fluorescent molecular sensors.     

Macrocyclic bisbinaphthyl fluorophores and their acyclic analogues: signal amplification and chiral recognition

A series of optically active macrocyclic and acyclic bisbinaphthyls have been synthesized and characterized. The structure of one of the bisbinaphthyl macrocycles has been established by a single-crystal X-ray analysis. The UV and fluorescence spectra of these chiral compounds in various solvents and at different concentrations are studied. Formation of excimers is observed for the macrocyclic bisbinaphthyl compounds. Introduction of conjugated substituents to the 6,6'-positions of the binaphthyl units in the macrocycles leads to greatly amplified fluorescence signals. Using the 6,6'-substituted bisbinaphthyl macrocycles in place of the unsubstituted macrocycles allows a 2 orders of magnitude reduction in the sensor concentration for the fluorescence measurements. These macrocycles have exhibited highly enantioselective fluorescent enhancements in the presence of chiral alpha-hydroxycarboxylic acids and N-protected alpha-amino acids. They are useful as fluorescent sensors for chiral recognition. The macrocycles show much greater enantioselectivity in the substrate recognition than their acyclic analogues.     

Enantioselective fluorescent recognition of chiral acids by cyclohexane-1,2-diamine-based bisbinaphthyl molecules

The cyclohexane-1,2-diamine-based bisbinaphthyl macrocycles (S)-/(R)-5 and their cyclic and acyclic analogues are synthesized. The interactions of these compounds with various chiral acids are studied. Compounds (S)-/(R)-5 exhibit highly enantioselective fluorescent responses and high fluorescent sensitivity toward alpha-hydroxycarboxylic acids and N-protected amino acids. Among these interactions, (S)-mandelic acid (10(-3) M) led to over 20-fold fluorescence enhancement of (S)-5 (1.0 x 10(-5) M in benzene/0.05% DME) at the monomer emission, and (S)-hexahydromandelic acid (10(-3) M) led to over 80-fold fluorescence enhancement. These results demonstrate that (S)-5 is useful as an enantioselective fluorescent sensor for the recognition of the chiral acids. On the basis of the study of the structures of (S)-5 and the previously reported 1,2-diphenylethylenediamine-based bisbinaphthyl macrocycle (S)-4, the large fluorescence enhancement of (S)-5 with a chirality-matched alpha-hydroxycarboxylic acid is attributed to the formation of a structurally rigidified host-guest complex and the further interaction of this complex with the acid to suppress the photoinduced electron-transfer fluorescent quenching caused by the nitrogens in (S)-5.     

A practical enantioselective fluorescent sensor for mandelic acid

A novel optically active bisbinaphthyl fluorescent sensor, (S,S)- or (R,R)-1, is designed for the recognition of chiral alpha-hydroxycarboxylic acids. A convenient method has been developed to synthesize this compound. It is observed that (S)-mandelic acid enhances the fluorescence intensity of the (S,S)-sensor significantly more than (R)-mandelic acid does. The enantioselective fluorescent response is confirmed with the observation of a mirror image relationship for the interaction of (S,S)- and (R,R)-sensors with mandelic acid. The enantioselectivity in fluorescence response [(I(S) - I(0))/(I(R) - I(0)) = 2.49] is quite high, which makes the sensor useful for practical application. The fluorescence intensity change of the sensor is found to be linearly related to the enantiomeric composition of mandelic acid. This sensor is potentially useful for the combinatorial search of chiral catalysts for the asymmetric synthesis of alpha-hydroxycarboxylic acids.     

Enantiomer analysis of chiral carboxylic acids by AIE molecules bearing optically pure aminol groups

Pure enantiomers of carboxylic acids are a class of important biomolecules, chiral drugs, chiral reagents, etc. Analysis of the enantiomers usually needs expensive instrument or complex chiral receptors. However, to develop simple and reliable methods for the enantiomer analysis of acids is difficult. In this paper, chiral recognition of 2,3-dibenzoyltartaric acid and mandelic acid was first carried out by aggregation-induced emission molecules bearing optically pure aminol group, which was easily synthesized. The chiral recognition is not only seen by naked eyes but also measured by fluorophotometer. The difference of fluorescence intensity between the two enantiomers of the acids aroused by the aggregation-induced emission molecules was up to 598. The chiral recognition could be applied to quantitative analysis of enantiomer content of chiral acids. More chiral AIE amines need to be developed for enantiomer analysis of more carboxylic acids.     

基于(R)-1,1’-联萘硫脲的手性荧光受体: 合成与手性识别

Two chiral fluorescent receptors 1 and 2 based on (R)-1,1‘-binaphthylene-2,2‘-bisthiourea were synthesized, and their chiral recognition properties for enantiomeric mandelate anions were studied by fluorescence spectra and molecular modeling. Addition of the L- and D-mandelate anions caused considerable fluorescent increases in the fluorescent intensity of the host solution. The L-enantiomer can enhance the fluorescence intensity of 1 much more than the D-enantiomer can do, and 1 shows a better enantioselective recognition ability than 2.     

Facile enantioseparation and recognition of mandelic acid and its derivatives in self‐assembly interaction with chiral ionic liquids

Mandelic acid and its derivatives are important medical intermediates in the pharmaceutical industry. Different stereoisomers exhibited distinct biological properties to human bodies. Given that, enantioselective recognition and separation of mandelic acid are of great importance. In this study, four novel different types of chiral ionic liquids bearing designed functional groups were synthesized and successful enantioselective precipitation with mandelic acid and its derivatives. That is, (R, R)‐chiral ionic liquid 1 can coprecipitated with S‐mandelic acid and its derivatives was observed. In addition, good correlation coefficient is achieved by using electrospray mass spectrum at negative ion pattern for quick analysis of the enantioselective precipitation, which could be served as a method of enantioselective recognition. The possible intermolecular interactions are established after systematical studies by NMR spectroscopy and DFT calculations.     

Enantioselective fluorescent recognition of a soluble "supported" chiral acid: toward a new method for chiral catalyst screening

The long-chain aliphatic-group-substituted mandelic acid 3c, which is soluble only in THF and insoluble in water and many polar/nonpolar organic solvents, has been synthesized. This unique solubility allows 3c to be easily isolated from reaction mixtures and makes it potentially useful for catalyst screening. The fluorescent sensors (R)- and (S)-1 can be used to determine the ees of various samples of 3c generated from a series of catalyst screening experiments. The fluorescence measurements correlate well with the conventional HPLC-chiral column analysis. This work demonstrates that the enantioselective fluorescent recognition of organic substrates can lead to a fundamentally new method for chiral catalyst screening. [reaction: see text]     

Enantioselective fluorescent sensor for amino acid derivatives based on BINOL bearing hexahydropyrrolo[1,2-c]imidazol-1-one units

A chiral fluorescent sensor (Ra,S,l)-3 incorporating (R)-BINOL and l-prolinamide is found efficient in enantioselective recognition of N-Cbz-protected phenylglycine. It is observed that one enantiomer of N-Cbz-protected phenylglycine can obviously increase the fluorescence intensity of (Ra,S,l)-3, while the other enantiomer does not cause much fluorescence enhancement. Such highly enantioselective response makes the sensor (Ra,S,l)-3 useful for the enantioselective fluorescence recognition of other N-Cbz-protected amino acids.     

Coumarin-based chiral fluorescence sensor incorporating a thiourea unit for highly enantioselective recognition of N-Boc-protected proline

New coumarin-based chiral thiourea sensor 1 was found to be an enantioselective fluorescent chemosensor for N-Boc-protected proline. The chiral sensor shows lower background fluorescence, and higher fluorescence enhancement with 18 nm blue shifts. Job plot analysis result indicates that sensor 1 can form a 1 : 1 stoichiometric complex and it could be used as a fluorescence sensor for the determination of enantiomer composition of N-Boc-protected proline.     

Determination of concentration and enantiomeric excess of amines and amino alcohols with a chiral nickel(II) complex

A chiral N,N'-dioxide-Ni(II) complex was found to exhibit highly enantioselective fluorescent recognition of chiral amines and amino alcohols. It can be used to determine their concentration and ee value. Using a 96-well plate, high-throughput screening for enantiomer discrimination was accomplished.     

Chiral acid selectivity displayed by PEDOT electropolymerised in the presence of chiral molecules

Chiral conducting polymers prepared by electropolymerising PEDOT in the presence of chiral anions such as hyaluronic acid and anionic collagen or in a chiral nematic phase (hydroxypropyl cellulose, HPC) show excellent chiral acid recognition. This paper demonstrates the enantioselective recognition and transfer of protonated mandelic acid and protons using chiral PEDOTs. Discrimination between (R)-(-)- and (S)-(+)-mandelic acid was observed using cyclic voltammetry and square-wave voltammetry.     

Enantioselective fluorescent recognition of chiral acids by 3- and 3,3′-aminomethyl substituted BINOLs

Benzylaminomethyl groups are introduced to the 3,3′-positions of BINOL. The resulting compounds can be used to conduct the enantioselective fluorescent recognition of mandelic acid and N-benzyloxycarbonylphenylglycine. In the presence of (S)-mandelic acid, compound (R)-2 showed over 30-fold fluorescence enhancement with the ef [ef=enantiomeric fluorescence difference ratio=(I_S−I₀)/(I_R−I₀)] up to 4.2. In the presence of d-N-benzyloxycarbonylphenylglycine, compound (RR)-4 showed up to 15-fold fluorescence enhancement with the ef up to 5.0. These high fluorescence sensitivity and enantioselectivity make compounds (R)-2 and (RR)-4 practically useful sensors for the recognition of the chiral acids in apolar solvents.     

Development of Enantioselective Fluorescent Sensors for Chiral Recognition

Novel chiral compounds have been synthesized for the enantioselective fluorescent recognition of alpha-hydroxycarboxylic acids and amino acids. By introducing dendritic branches to the chiral receptor units, the fluorescence signals of the receptors are significantly amplified because of the light-harvesting effect of the dendritic structure. This has greatly increased the sensitivity of the sensors in the fluorescent recognition. Highly enantioselective fluorescent responses have also been ac…