Work

Imprinted micelles for chiral recognition in water: shape, depth, and number of recognition sites

Year: 2017

Type: article

Abstract: Chiral molecular recognition is important to biology, separation, and asymmetric catalysis. Because there is no direct correlation between the chiralities of the host and the guest, it is difficult to design a molecular receptor for a chiral guest in a rational manner. By cross-linking surfactant micelles containing chiral template molecules, we obtained chiral nanoparticle receptors for a number of 4-hydroxyproline derivatives. Molecular imprinting allowed us to transfer the chiral information directly from the guest to host, making the molecular recognition between the two highly predictable. Hydrophobic interactions between the host and the guest contributed strongly to the enantio- and diastereoselective differentiation of these compounds in water, whereas ion-pair interactions, which happened near the surface of the micelle, were less discriminating. The chiral recognition could be modulated by tuning the size and shape of the binding pockets.

Source: Organic & Biomolecular Chemistry

DOI: 10.1039/c7ob00764g

Authors: Joseph K. Awino, Yan Zhao

Institution: Iowa State University

Language: English

Topic: Supramolecular Chemistry and Complexes

Subfield: Organic Chemistry

Field: Chemistry

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: green

Funders: National Science Foundation, National Institute of General Medical Sciences, Division of Materials Research

Awards: G4564608278, G6574523622