Design and synthesis of fluorescent beta-cyclodextrins for the enantioselective sensing of alpha-amino acids

pH-Dependent Selective Colorimetric Detection of Proline and Hydroxyproline with Meldrum’s Acid-Furfural Conjugate

Activated 2-furfural gives intense color formation when reacted with amines, due to a ring opening reaction cascade that furnishes a conjugated molecular system. Unique colorimetric characteristic of this reaction makes it an interesting candidate for developing chemosensors operating in visible range. Among many activated 2-furfural derivatives, Meldrum’s acid furfural conjugate (MAFC) recently gained significant interest as colorimetric chemosensor. MAFC has been explored as selective chemosensor for detecting amines in solution, secondary amines on polymer surfaces and even nitrogen rich amino acids (AA) in aqueous solution. In this work, the pH dependency of MAFC-AA reaction is explored. It was found that proline gives an exceptionally fast colored reaction at pH 11, whereas at other pHs, no naked eye color product formation was observed. The reaction sequence including ring opening reaction upon nucleophilic addition of cyclic amine of proline resulting in a conjugated triene was confirmed by NMR titrations. The highly pH dependent reaction can e.g., potentially be used to detect proline presence in biological samples. An even more intense color formation takes place in the reaction of natural proline derivative 4-hydroxyproline. The detection limit of proline and 4-hydroxyproline with MAFC solution was found to be 11 µM and 6 µM respectively.

Enantioselective Fluorescent Recognition of Free Amino Acids: Challenges and Opportunities

Fluorescent probes that can discriminate enantiomers of amino acids in organic media or aqueous solution are discussed. This Minireview focuses on recent progress in the studies of three classes of probes including those made of cyclodextrins, 1,1'-binaphthyl compounds, and nanomaterials, and uses them to illustrate the design strategies, applications, and limitations in this area. These probes are potentially useful for rapid analysis of asymmetric reactions for amino acid synthesis as well as the real-time imaging of amino acids in biological systems. The challenges in these applications are analyzed. Working in this field of enantioselective fluorescent recognition of amino acids offers great opportunities to make new scientific discoveries and to develop important practical applications.

Chiral Receptors for Lysine Based on Covalently Linked Bis- and Tris-binaphthylphosphoric Acids

The synthesis and application of three chiral receptors based on the covalent linkage of 1,1'-binaphthylphosphoric acids is reported. The binding of the lysine enantiomers to the chiral receptors was investigated by DOSY-NMR and NMR titrations, revealing that the bisphosphoric acid 1d acts as a highly stereoselective receptor for binding of d-lysine.

A porphyrin/β-cyclodextrin conjugated nano-system having a pan-lid molecular structure for smart drug carrier applications

In this study, 5,10,15-tri[p(9-methoxy-triethyleneoxy)phenyl]-20-[p-phenylisophthalate-β-cyclodextrin]porphyrin, a compound containing a porphyrin and a β-cyclodextrin unit covalently linked by means of an isophthalic bridge, was synthesized and characterized by NMR, MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry and UV-vis and circular dichroism spectroscopies. This porphyrin/β-cyclodextrin system, with the porphyrin unit connected to the lower rim (OH-2) of the cyclodextrin structure, is water-soluble and no evidence of a self-assembly arrangement between the porphyrin and cyclodextrin units appears. In this way, the β-cyclodextrin cavities remain free, retaining their potential ability of drug-delivery, with the spectroscopic advantage induced by the high absorbance of the porphyrin unit. Furthermore, the porphyrin unit, interacting with the guest and acting as a lid, could have a role in the controlled release process of the drug.

Selectively functionalized cyclodextrins and their metal complexes

Cyclodextrins (CDs) are cyclic oligomers of alpha-1,4-linked D-glucopyranose. Due to their unique structure, marked by a chiral and hydrophobic cavity, CDs have been extensively used as chiral selectors and drug delivery systems. The functionalization both improve the CD applications and widen their use in many other fields, such as molecular recognition and enzyme mimicking. Moreover, the functionalization highly increases the metal binding properties of the CDs. This critical review is a report of recent applications concerning the CD derivatives and their metal complexes. The metal ion assists the host-guest interaction often increasing the properties of CDs to act as chiral receptors. Furthermore, it can act as a catalytic center in the mimicking of metalloenzymes based on functionalized CDs (164 references).

Unexpected fluorescent behavior of a 4-amino-1,8-naphthalimide derived beta-cyclodextrin: conformation analysis and sensing properties

A new fluorescent cyclodextrin shows unexpected and strong fluorescence enhancement upon binding of organic molecules, and the enhancing mechanism is found to be different from those reported in the literature.

Syntheses and Photophysical Studies of Cyclodextrin Derivatives with Two Proximate Anthracenyl Groups

A series of permethylated cyclodextrin derivatives, cyclodextrin dimers doubly bridged with two anthracene moieties (An2CD2) and singly bridged with one (AnCD2) and the monomer bearing two anthracene moieties (An2CD), were newly synthesized. For An2CD2, the two isomeric forms are also identified. All compounds are soluble in both aqueous and various organic solvents. The bisanthracene systems, An2CD2 and An2CD, show the thermal equilibrium in an aqueous solution between the intramolecularly interacting (closed) and less-interacting (open) states of the anthracene moieties, which results in the temperature-dependent absorption changes. These systems also show the characteristic excimer emission that is enhanced in water and weakened in organic solvents. The excitation spectra for the monomer and excimer fluorescence are found to be quite different from each other and similar to the absorption spectra of the open and the closed forms, respectively. The observed unique parallelism between excitation and absorption spectra for the present excimer systems indicates the dual ground state-dual excitation scheme where the excitation state formed from the closed ground state mainly gives excimer. The fluorescence lifetime analyses reveal that the rates of the conversion from the excited state of the open form to that of the closed one (6.0 x 10(6) s(-1) for An2CD2-2) are largely retarded compared with that of the ethyleneoxy linked bisanthracene system (8.8 x 10(7) s(-1)).

Recognition of α-amino acid derivatives by N,N′-dibenzylated S,S-(+)-tetrandrine

Complexation of free and N-acetylated alpha-amino acid anions (Gly, Ala, Phe) and some structurally related guests by a dicationic cyclophane-type N,N'-dibenzylated chiral derivative of a bisisoquinoline macrocyclic alkaloid S,S-(+)-tetrandrine (DBT) has been studied by (1)H-NMR titrations in D(2)O. In contrast to other macrocyclic hosts like cyclodextrins and calixarenes, DBT shows highest affinity and large enantioselectivity (K(S)/K(R) >/=10) toward smaller N-acetylalanine and binds larger phenylalanine derivatives more weakly and non-selectively. With 1,2,3,4-tetrahydroisoquinoline-3-carboxylate, a rigid analog of phenylalanine, binding again becomes enantioselective with K(S)/K(R)= 3.8. The binding specificity of DBT is rationalized on the basis of molecular mechanics calculations.