An official website of the United States government
The enantiomers of chiral amino acids play versatile roles in biological systems including humans. They are also very useful in the asymmetric synthesis of diverse chiral organic compounds. Therefore, identifying a specific amino acid and distinguishing it from its enantiomer are of great importance. Although significant progress has been made in the development of fluorescent probes for amino acids, most of them are not capable of conducting simultaneous chemoselective and enantioselective detection of a specific amino acid enantiomer. In this article, several fluorescent probes have been designed and synthesized for chemoselective as well as enantioselective recognition of certain amino acid enantiomers. ( S )-1 shows greatly enhanced fluorescence in the presence of l -glutamic acid and l -aspartic acid, but produces no or little fluorescence response toward their opposite enantiomers and other amino acids. ( R )-4 in combination with Zn 2+ shows greatly enhanced fluorescence in the presence of l -serine. ( S )-6 is designed for the selective recognition of histidine. Micelles made of an amphiphilic diblock copolymer are used to encapsulate the water-insoluble compound ( S )-8 which shows chemoselective as well as enantioselective fluorescence enhancement with l -lysine in the presence of Zn 2+ in aqueous solution. The same micelles are also used to encapsulate several ( S )-1,1′-binaphthyl-based monoaldehydes ( S )-10 for the chemoselective and enantioselective fluorescence recognition of l -tryptophan in the presence of Zn 2+ in aqueous solution. These findings have demonstrated that highly selective fluorescence identification of a specific amino acid enantiomer can be achieved by incorporating certain functional groups at the designated locations of the 1,1′-binaphthyls. The binaphthyl core structure of these probes provides both a chirality source and highly tunable fluorescence properties. Matching the structure and chirality of these probes with those of the specific amino acid enantiomers can generate structurally rigid reaction products and give rise to greatly enhanced fluorescence. The strategies of this work can be further expanded to develop fluorescent probes for the specific identification of many amino acids of interest. This should facilitate the analysis of chiral amino acids in various applications. The outlook of this research and its comparison with other methods are also discussed.
more »
« less
Chiral Recognition of Dansyl Derivatives with an Amino Acid-Based Molecular Micelle: A Molecular Dynamics Investigation
In this study, the chiral separation mechanisms of Dansyl amino acids, including Dansyl-Leucine (Dans-Leu), Dansyl-Norleucine (Dans-Nor), Dansyl-Tryptophan (Dans-Trp) and Dansyl-Phenylalanine (Dans-Phe) binding to poly-sodium N-undecanoyl-(L)-Leucylvalinate, poly (SULV), were investigated using molecular dynamics simulations. Micellar electrokinetic chromatography (MEKC) has previously shown that when separating the enantiomers of these aforementioned Dansyl amino acids, the L-enantiomers bind stronger to poly (SULV) than the D-enantiomers. This study aims to investigate the molecular interactions that govern chiral recognition in these systems using computational methods. This study reveals that the computationally-calculated binding free energy values for Dansyl enantiomers binding to poly (SULV) are in agreement with the enantiomeric order produced in experimental MEKC studies. The L-enantiomers of Dans-Leu, Dans-Nor, Dans-Trp, and Dans-Phe binding to their preferred binding pockets in poly(SULV) yielded binding free energy values of −21.8938, −22.1763, −21.3329 and −13.3349 kJ∙mol−1, respectively. The D-enantiomers of Dans-Leu, Dans-Nor, Dans-Trp, and Dans-Phe binding to their preferred binding pockets in poly(SULV) yielded binding free energy values of −14.5811, −15.9457, −13.6408, and −12.0959 kJ∙mol−1, respectively. Furthermore, hydrogen bonding analyses were used to investigate and elucidate the molecular interactions that govern chiral recognition in these molecular systems.
more »
« less
- Award ID(s):
- 1708959
- PAR ID:
- 10295265
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Open journal of physical chemistry
- Volume:
- 11
- Issue:
- 2
- ISSN:
- 2162-1969
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 64-86
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
More Like this
-
-
Abstract The identification of Chiral molecules is essential in pharmaceutical and food science. However, conventional methods are complex and cost‐prohibitive. This study introduces a sustainable method using hydroxypropyl cellulose (HPC) gel to identify amino acids enantiomers, such as phenylalanine and alanine, through visible light. By integrating the structural color properties of HPC, this research demonstrates the HPC gel's capability to distinguish L (Levo)‐phenylalanine (L‐Phe), D (Dextro)‐phenylalanine (D‐Phe), and DL (racemic mixture)‐phenylalanine (DL‐Phe) supplemented with visible circular dichroism (CD) spectra or hydrochloric acid (HCl) as visual indicators. Similar chiral sensing results are observed with D‐alanine, L‐alanine, and DL‐alanine. Unlike traditional UV‐based detection requiring expensive equipment, this approach simplifies the process while maintaining sensitivity. Varying phenylalanine concentrations altered the CD response without disrupting the gel's helical structure, and color changes in response to HCl addition facilitated visual identification of enantiomers. Furthermore, adding various salts generates colorful HPC/Phe gels, demonstrating their suitability for 3D printing. Meanwhile, the HPC gels remained functional for three months, indicating long‐term stability. These advancements are significant for pharmaceutical and biotechnological industries, facilitating efficient low‐concentration chirality detection (0.2 wt.%). Continued development and refinement of this technology are expected to expand its applications and improve analytical capabilities for future chirality‐related studies and photonic gel 3D printing.more » « less
-
Charge densities of cationic polymers adsorbed to lipid bilayers are estimated from second harmonic generation (SHG) spectroscopy and quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring (QCM-D) measurements. The systems surveyed included poly(vinylamine hydrochloride) (PVAm), poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride) (PDADMAC), poly- l -lysine (PLL), and poly- l -arginine (PLR), as well as polyalcohol controls. Upon accounting for the number of positive charges associated with each polyelectrolyte, the binding constants and apparent free energies of adsorption as estimated from SHG data are comparable despite differences in molecular masses and molecular structure, with Δ G ads values of −61 ± 2, −58 ± 2, −57 ± 1, −52 ± 2, −52 ± 1 kJ mol −1 for PDADMAC 400 , PDADMAC 100 , PVAm, PLL, and PLR, respectively. Moreover, we find charge densities for polymer adlayers of approximately 0.3 C m −2 for poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride) while those of poly(vinylamine) hydrochloride, poly- l -lysine, and poly- l -arginine are approximately 0.2 C m −2 . Time-dependent studies indicate that polycation adsorption to supported lipid bilayers is only partially reversible for most of the polymers explored. Poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride) does not demonstrate reversible binding even over long timescales (>8 hours).more » « less
-
Abstract In this study the chiral selectivity of l-undecyl-leucine (und-leu) for binapthyl derivatives was examined with the use of arginine and sodium counterions at pH’s ranging from 7 to 11. The objective of this project was to investigate whether a cationic amino acid, such as arginine would achieve enhanced chiral selectivity when utilized as the counterion in the place of sodium in micellar electrokinetic chromatography. The data indicate that und-leu has significantly improved chiral selectivity toward 1,1′-binaphthyl-2,2′-diyl hydrogenphosphate (BNP) enantiomers in the presence of arginine counterions in comparison to sodium and that, at least in the case of this study, the enantiomeric form of the arginine did not appear to play a role in the chiral selectivity. The maximum resolution (Rs) achieved for BNP when sodium was used as the counterion was ~0.6. However, when arginine was used as the counterion, the maximum resolution for BNP was ~4.1. This was an increase in resolution of ~ 7-fold. However, no significant difference was observed for the enantiomers of 1,1′-bi-2-naphthol. In order to learn more about why this might be the case, NMR studies were conducted to examine what role the counterion might play in enantiomeric recognition.more » « less
-
Abstract Synthetic chiral platforms can be a powerful platform for enantioselective interactions, especially when coupled with redox‐mediated electrochemical processes. While metallopolymers are versatile platforms for molecularly selective binding, their application for chiral applications is limited. In particular, the recognition and separation of biologically relevant chiral molecules can be key for biomanufacturing and diagnostics. Here, the design of chiral redox‐polymers enables electrochemically‐controlled enantioselective interactions, and supramolecular chirality is leveraged for enhancing recognition towards target enantiomers. Chiral redox‐metallopolymers are synthesized based on Ugi's amine‐inspired chiral monomers, and their enantioselective recognition toward ionic enantiomers such as tryptophan and naproxen is demonstrated, with higher enanhcement provided by the chiral redox‐polymer over the single‐site, chiral building bloack itelf. 2D nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and solid‐state circular dichroism support the emergence of supramolecular chirality resulting from the intramolecular interaction between the ferrocene and the alkyl group in the backbone. The half potential shift of the redox‐polymers behaves linearly from 0% to 100%eel‐tryptophan to enable enantiomer quantification. Investigation on solvent polarity and pH effect reveal that the enantioselective mechanism is attributed to the subtle balance between hydrogen bonding and π–π interaction. This study highlights the potential of chiral redox‐metallopolymers as platforms for electrochemically‐modulated enantioselective interactions towards a range of amino acids and pharmaceutical carboxylates.more » « less
- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
-
Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Journal Article:
- The DOI is not currently available.
