Journal of the American Chemical Society, Vol.121, No.44, 10281-10285, 1999
Chiral microenvironments in self-assembled capsules
A nonracemic compound is synthesized and shown to assemble reversibly through hydrogen bonding to form a cyclic tetramer. The chiral arrangement of atoms in the individual pieces becomes amplified through self-assembly to yield multiple functional groups asymmetrically arranged within the cavity. The tetrameric capsule shows a special affinity for ketones and is able to discriminate between their enantiomers in solution.