Design of Selenium‐Based Chiral Chemical Probes for Simultaneous Enantio‐ and Chemosensing of Chiral Carboxylic Acids with Remote Stereogenic Centers by NMR Spectroscopy

Selenium‐based enantiopure chiral chemical probes have been designed in a modular way starting from available amino alcohols. The probes developed were found to be efficient in chemoselective interaction with carboxylic functions of chiral substrates leading to diastereomeric amide formation and in sensing α‐, β‐, and remote (up to seven bonds away from the carboxylic group) chiral centers by using ⁷⁷Se NMR spectroscopy. As a result, it was possible to determine the enantiomeric ratio of structurally diverse individual chiral acids including polyfunctional compounds and drugs with high accuracy. An approach to analyzing the crude reaction mixtures has been successfully developed by using bifunctional selenium‐ and fluorine‐containing chiral probes. More importantly, it was revealed that, based on the ⁷⁷Se NMR data obtained, it is possible to obtain primary information about the location and nature of the substituents at the chiral center (chemo‐ and enantiosensing), which can simplify the structural elucidation of complex compounds. The derivatization procedure takes as little as 5 min and can be performed directly in an NMR tube followed by NMR measurements without any isolation and purification steps.     

Systematic Dissection of an Aminopyrrolic Cage Receptor for β‐Glucopyranosides Reveals the Essentials for Effective Recognition

A set of structures designed for the recognition of glucosides has been obtained by systematically destructuring a tripodal aminopyrrolic cage receptor that selectively recognizes octyl‐β‐D ‐glucopyranoside (OctβGlc). NMR spectroscopy and isothermal titration calorimetry binding measurements showed that cleavage of one pillar of the cage was beneficial to the binding properties of the receptor, as long as two residual amino groups of the cleaved pillar were present. Removal of these two residual amino groups produced a dramatic loss of affinity for OctβGlc of the resulting monocyclic analogue of the parent cage receptor. A significant improvement in the binding ability was achieved by replacing one pillar with two aminopyrrolic hydrogen‐bonding arms, despite the loss of a preorganized structure. In contrast to the cage receptor, recognition of OctβGlc was observed, even in a competitive medium (30 % DMF in chloroform). Structural studies in solution, carried out through NMR spectroscopy and molecular modeling calculations, led to the elucidation of the 3D binding modes of the side‐armed monocyclic receptors; this highlighted the key role of the amino groups and demonstrated the occurrence of a rotaxane‐like complex, which featured the octyl chain of the glucoside threaded through the macrocyclic ring.     

Elucidation of lignin structure by quantitative 2D NMR

Quick quantitative HSQC (QQ‐HSQC) was applied to quantitative evaluation of different inter‐unit linkages in an array of milled softwood and hardwood and technical lignins by using the guaiacyl C2 and syringyl C2–C6 signals as internal standards. The results were found to be highly reproducible and comparable with earlier literature reports. The advantage of QQ‐HSQC NMR analysis of lignin is contemporary detection and quantification of lignin inter‐unit linkages with a direct, non‐destructive method requiring short acquisition times.     

Structure and Metabolic‐Flow Analysis of Molecular Complexity in a 13C‐Labeled Tree by 2D and 3D NMR

Improved signal identification for biological small molecules (BSMs) in a mixture was demonstrated by using multidimensional NMR on samples from ¹³C‐enriched Rhododendron japonicum (59.5 atom%) cultivated in air containing ¹³C‐labeled carbon dioxide for 14 weeks. The resonance assignment of 386 carbon atoms and 380 hydrogen atoms in the mixture was achieved. 42 BSMs, including eight that were unlisted in the spectral databases, were identified. Comparisons between the experimental values and the ¹³C chemical shift values calculated by density functional theory supported the identifications of unlisted BSMs. Tracing the ¹³C/¹²C ratio by multidimensional NMR spectra revealed faster and slower turnover ratios of BSMs involved in central metabolism and those categorized as secondary metabolites, respectively. The identification of BSMs and subsequent flow analysis provided insight into the metabolic systems of the plant.     

On the importance of carbohydrate-aromatic interactions for the molecular recognition of oligosaccharides by proteins: NMR studies of the structure and binding affinity of AcAMP2-like peptides with non-natural naphthyl and fluoroaromatic residues

The specific interaction of a variety of modified hevein domains to chitooligosaccharides has been studied by NMR spectroscopy in order to assess the importance of aromatic-carbohydrate interactions for the molecular recognition of neutral sugars. These mutant AcAMP2-like peptides, which have 4-fluoro-phenylalanine, tryptophan, or 2-naphthylalanine at the key interacting positions, have been prepared by solid-phase synthesis. Their three-dimensional structures, when bound to the chitin-derived trisaccharide, have been deduced by NMR spectroscopy. By using DYANA and restrained molecular dynamics simulations with the AMBER 5.0 force field, the three-dimensional structures of the protein-sugar complexes have been obtained. The thermodynamic analysis of the interactions that occur upon complex formation have also been carried out. Regarding binding affinity, the obtained data have permitted the deduction that the larger the aromatic group, the higher the association constant and the binding enthalpy. In all cases, entropy opposes binding. In contrast, deactivation of the aromatic rings by attaching fluorine atoms decreases the binding affinity, with a concomitant decrease in enthalpy. The role of the chemical nature of the aromatic ring for establishing sugar contacts has been thus evaluated.     

Highly effective acyclic carbohydrate receptors consisting of aminopyridine, imidazole, and indole recognition units

Neutral imidazole/aminopyridine- and indole/aminopyridine-based receptors, 1 and 2, have been established as highly effective and selective carbohydrate receptors. These receptors effectively recognise neutral carbohydrates through multiple interactions, including neutral hydrogen bonds and CH...pi interactions between the sugar CH groups and the aromatic rings of the receptors. The design of these receptors was inspired by the binding motifs observed in the crystal structures of protein-carbohydrate complexes. The formation of very strong complexes with beta-glucopyranoside 5, beta-maltoside 8, and alpha-maltoside 9 in organic media has been characterised by 1H NMR spectroscopy and confirmed by a second, independent technique, namely fluorescence spectroscopy. The syntheses, molecular-modelling studies, binding properties of the receptors 1 and 2 toward selected mono- and disaccharides as well as comparative binding studies with receptors 3 and 4 are described.     

Rh2[MTPA]4, a dirhodium complex as NMR auxiliary for chiral recognition

The dirhodium complex Rh(+II)2[(+)-MTPA]4 is introduced as an NMR auxiliary for enantiodifferentiation. As a soft Lewis acid, it is particularly useful for the recognition of soft Lewis base molecules. The donor properties of ligands can be divided into several categories and are exemplified by various classes of phosphorus-containing functionalities. In addition, the thermodynamics of the underlying ligand-complex equilibria are discussed and stereochemical implications demonstrated. The extension of the dirhodium method to absolute configuration determination is evaluated. The outlook for future applications with further non-phosphorus ligands is presented.