Mechanism of chiral asymmetry generation by chiral autocatalysis in the preparation of chiral octahedral cobalt complex

Chiral asymmetry generation, the predominant production of one enantiomer in a non-chiral environment, could occur in the production of the chiral complex cis-[CoBr(NH₃)(en)₂]Br₂ by the reaction of [Co(H₂O)₂{(OH)₂Co(en)₂}₂](SO₄)₂ with ammonium bromide in an aqueous medium. The main kinetic steps in the reaction system have been determined. During the reaction, the product crystallizes at an early stage. When a very small amount of crystalline enantiomer was added to the reaction system at an early stage, the same enantiomer was produced preferentially; in addition, the enantiomeric excess of the product increased with increasing the stirring rate. Thus, it seems that each enantiomer generates chiral crystals that could self-replicate through secondary nucleation when the solution is stirred; these crystals in turn enhance the production of the same enantiomer. With a computer code that simulates such a kinetic mechanism, it is shown that enantiomeric excess observed in the experiments could be reproduced. Chirality 10:343–348, 1998. © 1998 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Generation of molecular chiral asymmetry through stirred crystallization

In our earlier work we established that stirred crystallization of achiral compounds that crystallize in enantiomeric forms result in spontaneous chiral symmetry breaking. The asymmetry thus spontaneously generated is confined to the solid state. In this article, we present a case in which the crystal enantiomeric excess (CEE) can be converted to molecular enantiomeric excess (EE) through a solid state reaction which relates the enantiomeric form of the crystal to the enantiomeric form of the product. Such a process not only provides a means of detecting the CEE generated in stirred crystallization but it is also a means through which chiral asymmetry generated spontaneously is "propagated" to generate chiral compounds with enantiomeric excess.     

Chiral symmetry breaking: Experimental results and computer analysis of a liquid-phase autoxidation

The autoxidation of tetralin is treated as a model reaction system to define the applicability of stereospecific autocatalysis. This concept, predicting a spontaneous amplification of enantiomeric excess generated by an autocatalytic chemical reaction, is used in several theoretical models as an explanation for the origin of natural optical activity. The reaction system investigated obeys the basic criteria of these models: a chiral intermediate (tetralin hydroperoxide) is produced from an achiral substrate (tetralin) via an autocatalytic pathway where the feedback mechanism is expected to generate a state of broken chiral symmetry. In order to test the amplification capacity of this reaction a computer analysis of the kinetic scheme is performed. This simulation is derived from the known kinetic scheme of autoxidation and is validated by fitting the experimentally observed data of hydroperoxide evolution. Calculations show that this model allows powerful amplification of enantiomeric excess and a transient amplification of the optical rotation. It is also demonstrated that the model system exhibits pronounced sensitivity toward any loss of absolute configuration of the involved chiral species. Since an amplification effect results exclusively at a high degree of stereoselectivity, it is concluded that stereospecific autocatalysis is possible in systems which show template reactions, crystallization, or colloidal effects. © 1993 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Kinetic Analysis of Self-Replicating Peptides: Possibility of Chiral Amplification in Open Systems

A simplified kinetic model scheme is presented that addresses the main reactions of two recently reported peptide self-replicators. Experimentally observed differences in the autocatalytic efficiency between these two systems-- caused by variations in the peptide sequences--and the possible effect of chiral amplification under heterochiral reaction conditions were evaluated. Our numerical simulations indicated that differences in the catalytic performance are exclusively due to pronounced variations in the rate parameters that control the reversible and hydrophobic interactions in the reaction system but neither to alterations in the underlying reaction network nor to changes in the stoichiometry of the involved aggregation processes. Model predictions further demonstrated the possible existence of chiral amplification if peptide self-replication is performed under heterochiral reaction conditions. Pointing into the direction of a possible cause for biomolecular homochirality, it was found that in open flow reactors, keeping the system under non-equilibrium conditions, a remarkable amplification of enantiomeric excess could be achieved. According to our modeling, this is due to a chiroselective autocatalytic effect and a meso-type separation process both of which are assumed to be intrinsic for the underlying dynamics of heterochiral peptide self-replication.     

Chiral Polymerization in Open Systems From Chiral-Selective Reaction Rates

We investigate the possibility that prebiotic homochirality can be achieved exclusively through chiral-selective reaction rate parameters without any other explicit mechanism for chiral bias. Specifically, we examine an open network of polymerization reactions, where the reaction rates can have chiral-selective values. The reactions are neither autocatalytic nor do they contain explicit enantiomeric cross-inhibition terms. We are thus investigating how rare a set of chiral-selective reaction rates needs to be in order to generate a reasonable amount of chiral bias. We quantify our results adopting a statistical approach: varying both the mean value and the rms dispersion of the relevant reaction rates, we show that moderate to high levels of chiral excess can be achieved with fairly small chiral bias, below 10%. Considering the various unknowns related to prebiotic chemical networks in early Earth and the dependence of reaction rates to environmental properties such as temperature and pressure variations, we argue that homochirality could have been achieved from moderate amounts of chiral selectivity in the reaction rates.     

Enantiomeric separation of chiral ruthenium(II) complexes using capillary electrophoresis

Capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) and micellar capillary electrophoresis (MCE) were applied for the enantiomeric separation of nine mononuclear tris(diimine)ruthenium(II) complexes as well as the separation of all stereoisomers of a dinuclear tris(diimine)ruthenium(II) complex. Nine cyclodextrin (CD) based chiral selectors were examined as run buffer additives to evaluate their effectiveness in the enantiomeric separation of tris(diimine)ruthenium(II) complexes. Seven showed enantioselectivity. Sulfated gamma-cyclodextrin (SGC), with four baseline and three partial separations, was found to be the most useful chiral selector. In CZE mode, the derivatized gamma-CDs were more effective than beta-CDs while sulfated CDs work better than carboxymethyl CDs. In MCE mode, hydroxypropyl beta-CD separated the greatest number of tris(diimine) ruthenium(II) complexes. The effects of chiral selector concentration, run buffer pH and concentration, the concentration ratio between chiral selector and other factors were investigated.     

Fluorescence determination of enantiomeric composition of pharmaceuticals via use of ionic liquid that serves as both solvent and chiral selector

A new method has been developed for the sensitive and accurate determination of enantiomeric compositions of a variety of drugs, including propranolol, naproxen, and warfarin. The method is based on the use of the fluorescence technique to measure diastereomeric interactions between both enantiomeric forms of a drug with an optically active room temperature ionic liquid (RTIL) followed by partial least squares analysis of the data. The chiral RTIL used in this study, S-[(3-chloro-2-hydroxypropyl) trimethylammonium] [bis((trifluoromethyl)sulfonyl)amide] (S-[CHTA](+) [Tf(2)N](-)), is a novel chiral RTIL that has been synthesized successfully recently in our laboratory in optically pure form using a simple one-step reaction with commercially available reagents. The high solubility power and strong enantiomeric recognition ability make it possible to use this chiral RTIL to solubilize a drug and to induce diastereomeric interactions for the determination of enantiomeric purity, that is, to use it as both solvent and chiral selector. Enantiomeric compositions of a variety of pharmaceutical products with different shapes, sizes, and functional groups can be determined sensitively (microgram concentration) and accurately (enantiomeric excess as low as 0.30% and enantiomeric impurity as low as 0.08%) by use of this method.     

Enantioselectivity of lipase-catalyzed hydrolysis of some 2-chloroethyl 2-arylpropanoates studied by chiral reversed-phase liquid chromatography

A technique based exclusively on chiral reversed-phase liquid chromatography has been shown to greatly facilitate studies of enantioselectivity in lipase-catalyzed hydrolysis of chiral organic esters. Only two sets of experimental data are needed to calculate the enantioselectivity (E) of a kinetically controlled enantiomer-differentiating reaction of this kind, viz. the enantiomeric excess of the product (ee_p) or substrate (ee_s), and the degree of substrate conversion (c). The product enantiomers are well separated on a BSA-based column, giving ee_p directly. In addition, separation of the (unresolved) ester substrate from the enantiomeric products gives c by integration. Via an optimization of the mobile phase used in the chiral chromatographic system, both these parameters can often be determined in a single run. Highly precise and detailed kinetic studies of the enzymatic reaction can thus be performed. In this way, E-values have been determined for a series of 2-chloroethyl 2-arylpropanoates hydrolyzed in the presence of a Candida cylindracea lipase at pH 6.0 and 7.1. Effects on the E-values from a partial purification and further processing of the lipase have also been studied.     

One-pot synthesis and chiral analysis of cyclopropane derivatives

A user-friendly, one-pot procedure was developed to access racemic as well as enantiomerically enriched cyclopropanes. Thus, the cyclopropanation of olefin (3) was performed using Meldrum's acid (4) or dimethyl malonate (5) and diacetoxyiodobenzene PhI(OAc)2 (6) or iodosyl benzene PhI=O (7) for in situ generation and decomposition of the phenyliodonium ylide 1 and 2, respectively. The reaction proceeds well with 5 mol% of achiral rhodium (II)-catalyst [Rh2(OAc)4] and a 10-fold excess of olefin affording the cyclopropane derivates 10 and 11, respectively, with high yield. The system is compatible with chiral Rh(II)-catalysts 8 and 9 and an enantiomeric excess up to 66% was achieved. An effective baseline separation of the enantiomers of the resulting cyclopropane derivatives was achieved using gas chromatography on the chiral stationary phase Chirasil-beta-dex.     

Mass transfer limitation as a tool to enhance the enantiomeric excess in the enzymatic synthesis of chiral cyanohydrins

The enantioselective synthesis of cyanohydrins catalyzed by R-hydroxynitrile lyase in an aqueous-organic liquid two-phase system using, mass transfer limitation to enhance enantiomeric excess at 5°C and pH 5.5 is described. Benzaldehyde, a good substrate, and cinnamaldehyde, a notoriously difficult substrate, were used as model substrates and compared in order to establish the mass transfer limitation concept in a two-liquid phase system, where the non-enzymatic-racemic reaction competes. Enzyme concentration and phase volume ratio between organic and buffer phase were geared to one another to enhance the enantiomeric excess for each substrate. In both cases, after optimization, excellent chemical conversion (>99% on a 60 mmol scale), high throughput and high enantiomeric excess (benzaldehyde >99% and cinnamaldehyde >96%) were achieved.     

An improved method for determining enantiomeric excess by 13C‐NMR in chiral liquid crystal media

By using a combination of inverse gated ¹H decoupled ¹³C‐NMR experiments 1 with short acquisition times and NMR Cryo‐probe technology, the sample requirements and experimental times necessary to accurately measure enantiomeric excess of small chiral molecules has been reduced 16‐fold. Quality ¹³C‐NMR spectra can now be obtained from a 1 to 5 mg sample in 12 minutes. The enantiomeric excess determination achieved from the average integration of all the ¹³C‐resonances in the spectrum is comparable to enantiomeric excess measured by chiral SFC. The advantage of the NMR method is that enantiomeric excess can rapidly be measured in situ on practical amounts of enantioselective reaction products without the need for chromatographic separation or chemical modification and with substantially less solvent waste. Chirality, 2010. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Mass balancing in kinetic resolution: calculating yield and enantiomeric excess using chiral balance

When kinetic resolution is applied for the production of enantiomerically pure compounds, process options may be used which involve more than one chiral substrate and one chiral product, such as sequential or parallel enzymatic kinetic resolutions or hydrolysis of diastereomers. Although the relation between the yields (y) of the chiral compounds is straightforward in these cases, the relation between their enantiomeric excess (ee) values is not. Combining mass balances into a so-called chiral balance (Sigma y . ee(R) = 0) provides the relation between enantiomeric excess values in a useful manner. This chiral balance easily shows which nonmeasured enantiomeric excess values and yields can be calculated from measured values. The chiral balance is only valid when configurations at chiral centers are conserved. (c) 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Kinetic analysis of artificial peptide self-replication. Part II: the heterochiral case

A kinetic model has been designed to describe and to analyze the stereoselective behavior of a recently discovered heterochiral template-directed peptide self-replicator by Ghadiri and co-workers [Nature 409 (2001) 797-801]. It turned out that previous assumptions stating that exclusively homochiral species participate in a stereoselective and autocatalytic pathway and that heterochiral species originate only from uncatalyzed background reactions could not be validated by our model. On the contrary, excellent fitting of experimental data indicated that the whole combinatorial variety of possible cross-catalytic processes involving L- and D- peptide species play an important role and need to be taken into account. The system shows no net creation of chiral matter but only a redistribution of the initially present chiral material. Both, the separation of an optically inactive meso-type template dimer and a slight chiroselective autocatalytic effect, contribute to a predicted amplification of enantiomeric excess that, in some cases, can simultaneously result in a substantial amount of optically active matter.     

Demonstration of spontaneous chiral symmetry breaking in asymmetric Mannich and Aldol reactions

Spontaneous symmetry breaking in reactive systems, known as a rare physical phenomenon and for the Soai autocatalytic irreversible reaction, might in principle also occur in other, more common asymmetric reactions when the chiral product is capable to promote its formation and an element of "nonlinearity" is involved in the reaction scheme. Such phenomena are long sought after in chemistry as a possible explanation for the biological homochirality of biomolecules. We have investigated homogeneous organic stereoselective Mannich and Aldol reactions, in which the product is capable to form H-bridged complexes with the prochiral educt, and found by applying NMR spectroscopy, HPLC analysis, and optical rotation measurements 0.3-50.8% of random product enantiomeric excess under essentially achiral reaction conditions. These findings imply a hitherto overlooked mechanism for spontaneous symmetry breaking and, hence, a novel approach to the problem of absolute asymmetric synthesis and could have also potential significance for the conundrum of homochirality.     

Investigation of the donor and acceptor range for chiral carboligation catalyzed by the E1 component of the 2-oxoglutarate dehydrogenase complex

The potential of thiamin diphosphate (ThDP)-dependent enzymes to catalyze CC bond forming (carboligase) reactions with high enantiomeric excess has been recognized for many years. Here we report the application of the E1 component of the Escherichia coli 2-oxoglutarate dehydrogenase multienzyme complex in the synthesis of chiral compounds with multiple functional groups in good yield and high enantiomeric excess, by varying both the donor substrate (different 2-oxo acids) and the acceptor substrate (glyoxylate, ethyl glyoxylate and methyl glyoxal). Major findings include the demonstration that the enzyme can accept 2-oxovalerate and 2-oxoisovalerate in addition to its natural substrate 2-oxoglutarate, and that the tested acceptors are also acceptable in the carboligation reaction, thereby very much expanding the repertory of the enzyme in chiral synthesis.     

Enantioselective hydrolysis of insoluble (R,S)-ketoprofen ethyl ester in dispersed aqueous reaction system induced by chiral cyclodextrin

The enantioselective hydrolysis of insoluble (R,S)-ketoprofen ethyl ester to the optically active (S)-ketoprofen was carried out in a dispersed aqueous lipase reaction system induced by the inclusion of chiral cyclodextrins for complexation of the substrate. Hydroxypropyl-beta-cyclodextrin was the most effective chiral selector and disperser giving an enantiomeric excess and conversion yield of 0.99 and 0.49, respectively.     

Utilization of deep‐sea microbial esterase PHE21 to generate chiral sec‐butyl acetate through kinetic resolutions

We previously identified and characterized 1 novel deep‐sea microbial esterase PHE21 and used PHE21 as a green biocatalyst to generate chiral ethyl (S)‐3‐hydroxybutyrate, 1 key chiral chemical, with high enantiomeric excess and yield through kinetic resolution. Herein, we further explored the potential of esterase PHE21 in the enantioselective preparation of secondary butanol, which was hard to be resolved by lipases/esterases. Despite the fact that chiral secondary butanols and their ester derivatives were hard to prepare, esterase PHE21 was used as a green biocatalyst in the generation of (S)‐sec‐butyl acetate through hydrolytic reactions and the enantiomeric excess, and the conversion of (S)‐sec‐butyl acetate reached 98% and 52%, respectively, after process optimization. Esterase PHE21 was also used to generate (R)‐sec‐butyl acetate through asymmetric transesterification reactions, and the enantiomeric excess and conversion of (R)‐sec‐butyl acetate reached 64% and 43%, respectively, after process optimization. Deep‐sea microbial esterase PHE21 was characterized to be a useful biocatalyst in the kinetic resolution of secondary butanol and other valuable chiral secondary alcohols.     

Analysis of the mechanism of asymmetric amplification by chiral auxiliary trans-1,2-diaminocyclohexane bistriflamide

Asymmetric amplification is a phenomenon in which the enantiomeric excess (ee) of a product is higher than that of a chiral auxiliary for a catalyst. We analyzed the mechanism of asymmetric amplification observed in the addition of diethylzinc (Et(2)Zn) to benzaldehyde (PhCHO) to synthesize 1-phenyl-1-propanol in the presence of trans-1,2-diaminocyclohexane bistriflamide (DCBF) and titanium tetraisopropoxide (TIOP). In a manner similar to the reaction in which 1-piperidino-3,3-dimethyl-2-butanol is a chiral auxiliary for the catalyst, when asymmetric amplification was observed, the ee of the product varied as the reaction progressed. The mechanisms of variation in ee in the two reactions, however, were different. No asymmetric amplification was observed when TIOP and PhCHO were added to a mixture of DCBF and Et(2)Zn, while the ee of the product was always higher than that of DCBF when PhCHO and Et(2)Zn were added to a mixture of DCBF and TIOP. In the latter case, the product ee decreased as the reaction progressed. The results indicate that DCBF forms inactive heterochiral complex causing an increase in the ee of DCBF in the solution, which is the chiral auxiliary for the catalyst. But the complex is not very stable and gradually dissociates due to the reaction with Et(2)Zn. As a result, the asymmetric amplification decreases as the reaction progresses.     

Immobilization of difunctional building blocks on hydroxysuccinimide activated silica: versatile in situ preparation of chiral stationary phases.

Several brush-type chiral stationary phases (CSPs) based on undecanoyl- or butanoyl-bound (R,R)-1,2-diphenylethane-1,2-diamine (DPEDA) as chiral selector were prepared by an innovative, fast, and less expensive kind of preparation. The key to this method is the immobilization of the enantiomeric pure diamine with only one amino function in a simple substitution reaction on hydroxysuccinimide ester-activated silica. No excess chiral material is lost. Loading can be easily monitored analyzing the filtrate. The free second amino function can subsequently be acylated with different acyl halogenides. Examples with benzoyl- and 3,5-dinitrobenzoyl (DNB) amides show that, based on our new approach, a library of differently acylated Pirkle-type CSPs can easily be obtained. A benzoylated analog of the commercially available ULMO CSP is shown to be very effective in separating enantiomers of N-acyl amino acids.     

Enantioselective hydrolysis of p-nitrostyrene oxide by an epoxide hydrolase preparation from Aspergillus niger

The epoxide hydrolase activity of Aspergillus niger was synthesized during growth of the fungus and was shown to be associated with the soluble cell fraction. An enzyme preparation was worked out which could be used in place of the whole mycelium as biocatalyst for the hydrolysis of epoxides. The effect of four different cosolvents on enzyme activity was investigated. Consequently, dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) was selected for epoxide solubilization. The effect of temperature on both reaction rate and enzyme stability was studied in the presence of DMSO (0.2 volume ratio). A temperature of 25 degrees C was selected for the reaction of bioconversion. With a substrate concentration of 4.5 mM a batch reactor showed that the enzyme preparation hydrolyzed para-nitrostyrene oxide with very high enantioselectivity. The (S) enantiomer of the epoxide remained in the reaction mixture and showed an enantiomeric excess higher than 99%. The substrate concentration could be increased to 20 mM without affecting the enantiomeric excess and degree of conversion. Therefore, the method is potentially useful for the preparative resolution of epoxides. Application are in the field of chiral synthons which are important building blocks in organic synthesis. (c) 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.