Heterochiral Complexes Research Articles

CuI/CuII Chiral Homoleptic Complexes: Study of Self‐Recognition and Self‐Discrimination

AbstractThe formation of ML2 homoleptic copper(I) and copper(II) complexes from bidentate chiral ligands with C2 symmetry, comprising three types of substituents (namely benzyl, indanyl and phenyl groups), was investigated. The formation of homochiral or heterochiral complexes can be influenced by the nature of the substituents and the geometry induced by the oxidation state of the metal. All the complexes were isolated and characterized, in particular in the solid state by X‐ray diffraction studies. In solution, cyclic voltammetry was used to study ligand association and discrimination induced by the CuI/CuII transition.

Designing Coiled Coils for Heterochiral Complexation to Enhance Binding and Enzymatic Stability.

Coiled coils, commonly found in native proteins, are helical motifs important for mediating intermolecular interactions. While coiled coils are attractive for use in new therapies and biomaterials, the lack of enzymatic stability of naturally occurring l-peptides may limit their implementation in biological environments. d-peptides are of interest for biomedical applications as they are resistant to enzymatic degradation and recent reports indicate that stereochemistry-driven interactions, achieved by blending d- and l-peptides, yield access to a greater range of binding affinities and a resistance to enzymatic degradation compared to l-peptides alone. To our knowledge, this effect has not been studied in coiled coils. Here, we investigate the effects of blending heterochiral E/K coiled coils, which are a set of coiled coils widely used in biomaterials. We found that we needed to redesign the coiled coils from a repeating pattern of seven amino acids (heptad) to a repeating pattern of 11 amino acids (hendecad) to make them more amenable to heterochiral complex formation. The redesigned hendecad coiled coils form both homochiral and heterochiral complexes, where the heterochiral complexes have stronger heats of binding between the constituent peptides and are more enzymatically stable than the analogous homochiral complexes. Our results highlight the ability to design peptides to make them amenable to heterochiral complexation, so as to achieve desirable properties like increased enzymatic stability and stronger binding. Looking forward, understanding how to engineer peptides to utilize stereochemistry as a materials design tool will be important to the development of next-generation therapeutics and biomaterials.

Enantioselective Reduction of Noncovalent Complexes of Amino Acids with CuII via Resonant Collision-Induced Dissociation: Collision Energy, Activation Duration Effects, and RRKM Modeling.

Formation of noncovalent complexes is one of the approaches to perform chiral analysis with mass spectrometry. Enantiomeric distinction of amino acids (AAs) based on the relative rate constants of competitive fragmentations of quaternary copper complexes is an efficient method for chiral differentiation. Here, we studied the complex [CuII,(Phe,PhG,Pro-H)]+ (m/z 493) under resonant collision-induced dissociation conditions while varying the activation time. The precursor ion can yield two main fragments through the loss of the non-natural AA phenylglycine (PhG): the expected product ion [CuII,(Phe,Pro-H)]+ (m/z 342) and the reduced product ion [CuI,(Phe,Pro)]+ (m/z 343). Enantioselective reduction describes the difference in relative abundance of these ions, which depends on the chirality of the precursor ion: the formation of the reduced ion m/z 343 is favored in homochiral complexes (DDD) compared to heterochiral complexes (such as LDD). Energy-resolved mass spectrometry data show that reduction, which arises from rearrangement, is favored at a low collision energy (CE) and long activation time (ActT), whereas direct cleavage preferentially occurs at a high CE and short ActT. These results were confirmed with kinetic modeling based on RRKM theory. For this modeling, it was necessary to set a pre-exponential factor as a reference, so that the E0 values obtained are relative values. Interestingly, these simulations showed that the critical energy E0 required to form the reduced ion is comparable in both homochiral and heterochiral complexes. However, the formation of product ion m/z 342 through direct cleavage is associated with a lower E0 in heterochiral complexes. Consequently, enantioselectivity would not be caused by enhanced reduction in homochiral complexes but rather by direct cleavage being favored in heterochiral complexes.

Copper (II) Ions Induced Self-Disproportionation of Enantiomers in Capillary Electrophoresis for the Quantification of Atenolol Enantiomers.

Despite the fact that the self-disproportionation of enantiomers (SDE) has been found for several decades and has been widely used in crystallization, sublimation and chromatography for the purification or separation of nonracemic compounds, the phenomenon of SDE in capillary electrophoresis (CE) has never been reported up to now. Here, a new approach to separate enantiomers in CE based on SDE was demonstrated by introducing copper (II) ions into the separation media. The enantiomers of atenolol interact with copper ions to produce positively charged complexes with different electrophoretic mobilities from the single molecules. The dynamic equilibrium between homo- or heterochiral complexes (associates) and single molecules of atenolol enantiomers supports the manifestation of SDE. Different mobilities of the single molecules and associates, and different distribution of two enantiomers between the single molecules and associates caused by their different concentrations, produce a net difference in electrodriven migration velocities of the two enantiomers. The relative movement of two enantiomers causes a zone depleted in one enantiomer at the rear end of sample segment, giving a trapezoidal CE curve with a step at the end. Quantification of enantiomers is achieved according to the step height. The analysis does not rely on the use of enantiomerically pure chiral selector and the result agrees with that obtained by conventional chiral CE using a chiral selector.

Coordination-Driven Self-Assembly of Complexes Constructed from Two Helical Ligands: Synthesis, Structures, and Selective Gas Adsorption Properties.

Two helical ligands (L1 and L2) were designed and synthesized by a Schiff base condensation reaction. Eight complexes, {[Zn(L1)I2]·H2O}n (1), [Cd2(L1)2I4(CH3OH)2] (2), [Hg2(L1)2I4] (3), [Ag(L1)NO3]n (4), [Ag2(L1)2(NO3)2DMSO]·H2O (5), {[Zn2(L2)2Cl4]·2CHCl3}n (6), {[Ag(L2)]·NO3}n (7), and {[Ag(L2)NO3]·CH3OH}n (8), were synthesized and characterized based on these two ligands. The crystal structures show that both Schiff base compounds exist as racemic ligands with equal amounts of P- and M-helicity, and the assembly of these racemic ligands with metal ions can lead to homochiral or heterochiral complexes via a chiral self-recognition or self-discrimination process. Complexes 2, 3, and 5 exist as heterochiral metallomacrocycles with a figure-eight conformation. Complexes 1, 6, and 8 exist as one-dimensional (1D) homochiral helical chain coordination polymers, while complexes 4 and 7 exist as 1D heterochiral helical chain coordination polymers. Furthermore, gas and vapor adsorption measurements show that all of the synthesized complexes exhibit good selective adsorption capacities toward methanol and ethanol vapor over N2, H2, and O2.

Accuracy of quantum chemistry structures of chiral tag complexes and the assignment of absolute configuration.

The absolute configuration of a molecule can be established by analysis of molecular rotational spectra of the analyte complexed with a small chiral molecule of known configuration. This approach of converting the analyte enantiomers, with identical rotational spectra, into diastereomers that can be distinguished spectroscopically is analogous to chiral derivatization in nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. For the rotational chiral tag method, the derivatization uses noncovalent interactions to install the new chiral center and avoids complications due to possible racemization of the analyte when covalent chemistry is used. The practical success of this method rests on the ability to attribute assigned rotational spectra to specific geometries of the diastereomeric homochiral and heterochiral tag complexes formed in the pulsed jet expansion that is used to introduce samples into the microwave spectrometer. The assignment of a molecular structure to an experimental rotational spectrum uses quantum chemistry equilibrium geometries to provide theoretical estimates of the spectrum parameters that characterize the rotational spectrum. This work reports the results of a high-sensitivity rotational spectroscopy study of the complexes formed between (3)-butyn-2-ol and verbenone. The rotational spectra of four homochiral and four heterochiral complexes are assigned. In addition, the 14 distinct, singly-substituted 13C isotopomer spectra of five of these species are assigned in natural abundance. Analysis of these spectra provides direct structural characterization of the complexes through determination of the carbon atom position coordinates. This data set is used to benchmark quantum chemistry calculations of candidate equilibrium geometries of the chiral tag complexes. The quantum chemistry calculations are limited to methods commonly used in the field of rotational spectroscopy. It is shown that the accuracy of the structures from quantum chemistry provides a high-confidence assignment of cluster geometries to the observed spectra. As a result, a high-confidence determination of the analyte (verbenone) absolute configuration is achieved.

Polymerization/depolymerization of chiral metallo-supramolecular assembly induced by redox change.

We report on the polymerization/depolymerization of chiral metallo-supramolecular assembly by CuI /CuII redox change. By combining a monotopic enantiopure ligand with a ditopic ligand of opposite configuration, ML2 -type complexes are generated with chiral self-recognition or self-discrimination depending on the oxidation state of copper. In presence of CuI , the formation of heterochiral complexes is favored, thus generating dinuclear species whereas CuII advocates for the formation of homochiral species, namely, a mixture of mononuclear species and metallo-supramolecular polymeric species. Thus, cyclic voltammetry was used to study such a chirality-induced stimulus sensitive polymerization/depolymerization process.

The model structure of the hammerhead ribozyme formed by RNAs of reciprocal chirality.

RNA-based tools are frequently used to modulate gene expression in living cells. However, the stability and effectiveness of such RNA-based tools is limited by cellular nuclease activity. One way to increase RNA’s resistance to nucleases is to replace its D-ribose backbone with L-ribose isomers. This modification changes chirality of an entire RNA molecule to L-form giving it more chance of survival when introduced into cells. Recently, we have described the activity of left-handed hammerhead ribozyme (L-Rz, L-HH) that can specifically hydrolyse RNA with the opposite chirality at a predetermined location. To understand the structural background of the RNA specific cleavage in a heterochiral complex, we used circular dichroism (CD) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy as well as performed molecular modelling and dynamics simulations of homo- and heterochiral RNA complexes. The active ribozyme-target heterochiral complex showed a mixed chirality as well as low field imino proton NMR signals. We modelled the 3D structures of the oligoribonucleotides with their ribozyme counterparts of reciprocal chirality. L- or D-ribozyme formed a stable, homochiral helix 2, and two short double heterochiral helixes 1 and 3 of D- or L-RNA strand thorough irregular Watson–Crick base pairs. The formation of the heterochiral complexes is supported by the result of simulation molecular dynamics. These new observations suggest that L-catalytic nucleic acids can be used as tools in translational biology and diagnostics.

Heterochiral or Homochiral Self‐Assembly: Mercury(II), Cadmium(II), and Spontaneous Resolution of Silver(I) Complexes Derived from a Racemic Bis(pyridyl) Ligand

A novel racemic bis(pyridyl) ligand (rac‐L) was designed and synthesized by Schiff condensation reaction. Five complexes, [Hg2(LR)(LS)Cl4]·2CH3CH2OH (1), [Cd(LR)(LS)Cl2]n (2), {[Cd(LR)(LS)SO4(H2O)]·11H2O}n (3), {[Ag(LR)2]NO3·CH3CN}n (4a) and {[Ag(LS)2]NO3·CH3CN}n (4b) have been synthesized and characterized. The different geometric features of complexes 1–4 were determined by single‐crystal X‐ray diffraction. The crystal structures show that the self‐assembly with racemic ligands can lead to homochiral or heterochiral complexes, through self‐recognition or self‐discrimination of the ligand units. Complex 1 exists as a 26‐membered binuclear heterochiral macrocycle. Complexes 2 and 3 form 1D mesomeric looped chain coordination polymers with different heterochiral self‐assembly types. More interestingly, two novel 2D homochiral coordination polymers 4a and 4b were obtained as racemic conglomerates via spontaneous resolution. Furthermore, the thermal stabilities and luminescence properties of complexes 1–4 were investigated.

Synthesis of alternating metallocopolymers by chiral recognition.

We report the synthesis of chiral enantiopure polytopic bridging ligands, which may lead to the formation of metallosupramolecular polymers with zinc (II) as metal linker. We show that chiral C2 -symmetric bisoxazoline ligands are useful moieties to efficiently generate heterochiral complexes and thus polymeric entities. The corresponding metallopolymers were further characterized by powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD) to obtain information on the level of crystallinity of our different metallopolymers.

Luminescent probing of the simplest chiral α-amino acid-alanine in an enantiopure and racemic state.

Luminescent spectroscopy combined with the technique of luminescent probing with rare earth ions (europium, gadolinium, terbium) and an actinide ion (uranyl) was used to differentiate enantiopure and racemic alanine, the simplest chiral proteinogenic amino acid. Using the achiral luminescent probes, small differences between pure L and DL alanine in the solid state were strongly amplified. Based on the observed electronic transitions of the probes, the position of the triplet level of the coordinated alanine was estimated. Formation of homo- and heterochiral complexes between enantiomers of alanine and the metal ions is discussed as a possible mechanism of chiral self-discrimination.

Molecular Dynamics Simulations of l-RNA Involving Homo- and Heterochiral Complexes.

l-RNA is a mirror image of the naturally occurring d-RNA. We present the first simulations of l-RNA/d-RNA complexes in the AMBER ff10 force field that we modified to account for l-ribonucleotides. To validate the modifications we performed molecular dynamics simulations of several homo- and heterochiral RNA complexes. We did not observe any canonical base pairing in the l-/d-systems, but we found many repeatable geometric patterns that suggest possible structural motifs between the heterochiral RNA strands. The microscopic picture of l-RNA/d-RNA interface could help formulate the rules for designing l-RNAs with desired affinity toward specific d-RNA motifs.

Can Transition Metals and Group II Mono- and Dications Discriminate between Homo- and Heterochiral XYYX’ Dimers (X,X’=H,Me; Y=O,S,Se)?

We present a density functional theory and ab initio (MP2) study of stereoisomer discrimination between the homochiral and heterochiral dimers of the form M(XYYX')2, where M is a cationic metal (Li + , Ca 2+ , Zn 2+ , Cu + , Cu 2+ ) complexing chalcogen-chalcogen bridges (H2O2, H2S2, H2Se2, and their corresponding methyl and dimethyl derivatives). The heterochiral complexes examined were in general found to be more stable than the homochiral complexes, with the exception of several selenium-containing complexes. The large majority of the relative energy differences amounted to 1 kJ/mol or less, with the largest energy gap being 3.42 kJ/mol in the case of Ca 2+ (HSeSe(CH3))2 at B3LYP/aug-cc-pVTZ. Racemization mechanisms of these complexes and the description of their bonding using the Atoms in Molecules theory of Bader are also presented.

Diastereoselective self-assembly of heterochiral Zn(ii) complexes of racemic Schiff bases in a chiral self-discriminating process: effect of non-covalent interactions on solid state structural self-assembly

Diastereoselective self-assembly of Zn(II) heterochiral complexes of racemic Schiff bases L1H and L2H (where L1H = 2-((phenyl(2-pyridyl)methylimino)-methyl)phenol; L2H = 1-((phenyl(2-pyridyl)methylimino)methyl)-2-naphthol) in a chiral self-discriminating process are reported. Complexes 1–6 are synthesized using ligand L1H (1–3), L2H (4–6), Zn(NO3)2·6H2O, and co-ligands such as N3− or NCS− and are conclusively structurally characterized. Determination of molecular structures of 1–5 confirmed the presence of a di-metallic core constructed by monochelated tridentate ligands with an inversion centre located directly between the two zinc ions. In 1–5, within one centrosymmetric dimer one of the ligands possessed R configuration whereas other possessed S configuration resulting a heterochiral dimerization of ligands around the Zn(II) centre in a chiral self-discriminating manner. Complex 6 is mononuclear having R configuration of ligand L2 and linked through a C–H⋯O interaction with the nearby mononuclear Zn(II) centre having S configuration of ligand L2 and consequently a heterochiral dimer. The plausible mechanism for the chiral self-discrimination is revealed which makes it clear that trans oriented anions direct the phenyl group appended to the asymmetric carbon atoms to be trans due to steric congestion and consequently the heterochiral dimerization configuration. The effects of different non-covalent interactions to self-assemble the heterochiral dimers to 1D chain having the sequence ⋯RS⋯RS⋯RS⋯ or ⋯RS⋯SR⋯RS⋯ or ⋯R⋯S⋯R⋯ and to transfer the stereochemical information of the heterochiral dimers throughout the chain are studied. Also the effects of the anions on the isotactic and syndiotactic arrangements of coordination complex are studied. The results demonstrate that ligand modification, anions and non-covalent interactions play a domino role on controlling the solid state structural rearrangements and photoluminescence properties of the synthesized complexes.

Self-Assembly of Left- and Right-Handed Molecular Screws

Stereoselectivity is a hallmark of biomolecular processes from catalysis to self-assembly, which predominantly occur between homochiral species. However, both homochiral and heterochiral complexes of synthetic polypeptides have been observed where stereoselectivity hinges on details of intermolecular interactions. This raises the question whether general rules governing stereoselectivity exist. A geometric ridges-in-grooves model of interacting helices indicates that heterochiral associations should generally be favored in this class of structures. We tested this principle using a simplified molecular screw, a collagen peptide triple-helix composed of either l- or d-proline with a cyclic aliphatic side chain. Calculated stabilities of like- and opposite-handed triple-helical pairings indicated a preference for heterospecific associations. Mixing left- and right-handed helices drastically lowered solubility, resulting in micrometer-scale sheet-like assemblies that were one peptide-length thick as characterized with atomic force microscopy. X-ray scattering measurements of interhelical spacing in these sheets support a tight ridges-in-grooves packing of left- and right-handed triple helices.

Effect of cooperative non-covalent interactions on the solid state heterochiral self-assembly: The concepts of isotactic and syndiotactic arrangements in coordination complex

Solid state diastereoselective self-assembly of five copper(II) heterochiral complexes containing racemic Schiff bases L1H and L2H (where L1H=1-((1-(2-pyridyl)ethylimino)methyl)-2-naphthol ; L2H=2-((phenyl(2-pyridyl)methylimino)-methyl)phenol) in crystal engineering contexts are discussed. Complexes 1–5 are synthesized using ligand L1H (1–3), L2H (4, 5), CuCl2·2H2O, Cu(ClO4)2·6H2O and co-ligands such as N3− or N(CN)2− and are conclusively structurally characterized. Determination of molecular structures of 1–5 confirmed the presence of a di-copper core with an inversion center located directly between the two copper ions. In 1–5, within one centrosymmetric dimer one of the ligands possess R configuration whereas other possess S configuration resulting a heterochiral dimerization of ligands around copper(II) center in chiral self-discriminating manner. The significant effects of different non-covalent interactions and co-ligands on self-assembly of heterochiral dimers into networks are studied. The presence of π⋯π interaction between face to face benzene-naphthalene and naphthalene-naphthalene dimers are perceived. The isotactic and syndiotactic arrangements of the coordination complex through non-covalent interactions are also studied.

Enantiomeric Selection Properties of β‐homoDNA: Enhanced Pairing for Heterochiral Complexes

The analysis of the physicochemical properties of sugarmodified nucleic acids is currently at the core of intense multidisciplinary investigations including chemistry, biology, biotechnology, and medicine. On one side, synthetic polymers acting as RNA/DNA mimics have extensively been devised for applications in therapy, diagnostics, and synthetic biology. On the other side, the construction of alternative pairing systems has been explored either to consider their use as orthogonal nucleic acid candidates or with the aim to potentially yield insights into the chemical evolution criteria ultimately leading to the current genetic system. In all cases, structural changes of natural (deoxy)ribose cores have been established to determine profound consequences in the pairing potential of the resulting artificial nucleic acids. In some noteworthy examples, oligonucleotide systems endowed with six-membered sugars in the backbone have been observed to hold the singular property (unique of its kind) of pairing with homochiral complements having opposite sense of chirality. Relevant to etiology-oriented investigations on nucleic acid structure, these findings could suggest the existence of a relationship between nature of the sugar backbone and chiral-selection properties of nucleic acids, thereby providing insights to enrich our understanding of the structural prerequisites for base pairing. From a comparative analysis of the pairing behavior of six-membered nucleic acids we perceived that, despite the large structural differences, oligonucleotide systems capable of isoand heterochiral hybridization (Figure 1) shared preorganized carbohydrate conformations with equatorially-oriented nucleobases. This observation took us to wonder if such an arrangement of the aglycon moiety, especially whereas inducing strong backbone-base inclination or even enabling formation of quasilinear oligomeric structures, could lead sugar chirality not to be crucial in hybridization processes. In view of systematic investigations aimed at addressing this question, we herein considered the chiral selection properties of the well-known pairing system composed of (6’!4’)-linked b-erythro-hexopyranosyl nucleotides (b-homoDNA; Figure 1). Based on above assumptions and early experimental data, we reasoned that the strongly inclined complexes provided by the “allequatorial” pyranose backbone of b-homoDNA could make the latter an interesting candidate displaying potential for heterochiral hybridization. An investigation into the enantioselectivity of the hybridization processes of b-homoDNA required access to oligomeric sequences in both enantiomeric forms (b-dand b-lhomoDNA). From a synthetic standpoint, while access to d-hexopyranosyl nucleosides was easily obtained by a carbohydrate-based route, the synthesis of the corresponding lenantiomers under the same reaction conditions was hampered by the limited commercial availability of almost all lhexoses. In an alternative path, our long studied de novo approach to l-monosaccharides and other structurallyrelated compounds was recently exploited for the preparation of the l-nucleosides 2a,b (T and A acting as model nucleobases) from the homologating agent 1 (Scheme 1). Figure 1. Sugar-modified nucleic acids displaying pairing aptitude for homochiral complements of opposite chirality.

Enantiomeric Selection Properties of β‐homoDNA: Enhanced Pairing for Heterochiral Complexes

De gustibus: β-homoDNA hat die spezielle Eigenschaft, mit homochiralen Komplementen gegensätzlicher Chiralität Basenpaare zu bilden, die stabiler sind als die entsprechenden isochiralen Komplexe. Im Kontext ätiologischer Untersuchungen der Nukleinsäurestruktur sprechen diese Ergebnisse für eine Beziehung zwischen Kohlenhydratstruktur und Stereoselektivität des Hybridisierungsprozesses der zugehörigen Nukleinsäuren.

The effect of fluorine substitution on chiral recognition: interplay of CH⋯π, OH⋯π and CH⋯F interactions in gas-phase complexes of 1-aryl-1-ethanol with butan-2-ol

The molecular diastereomeric complexes between R-1-phenyl-1-ethanol, S-1-(4-fluorophenyl)ethanol and S-1-(2-fluorophenyl)ethanol and R and S-butan-2-ol, isolated under molecular beam conditions in the gas phase, have been investigated by mass-selective resonant two-photon ionization (R2PI) and infrared depleted R2PI (IR-R2PI). The comparison of the three systems allowed us to highlight the significance of specific intermolecular interactions in the chiral discrimination process. The interpretation of the results is based on theoretical predictions mainly at the D-B3LYP/6-31++G** level of theory. The homo and heterochiral complexes are endowed with fine differences in intermolecular interactions, namely strong OH···O, and weaker CH···π, OH···π, CH···F as well as repulsive interactions. The presence of a fluorine atom in the para position of the aromatic ring does not influence the overall geometry of the complex whilst it affects the electron density in the π system and the strength of CH···π and OH···π interactions. The role and the importance of CH···F intermolecular interactions are evident in the complexes with fluorine substitution in the ortho position. While the ortho hetero complex is structurally analogous to the hetero para and non-fluorinated structures, butan-2-ol in the ortho homo adduct adopts a different conformation in order to establish a CH···F intermolecular interaction.

Synthesis and Preliminary Structural and Binding Characterization of New Enantiopure Crown Ethers Containing an Alkyl Diarylphosphinate or a Proton‐Ionizable Diarylphosphinic Acid Unit

AbstractNew enantiopure crown ethers containing either an ethyl diarylphosphinate moiety [(S,S)‐4 to (S,S)‐7] or a proton‐ionizable diarylphosphinic acid unit [(S,S)‐8 to (S,S)‐11] have been synthesized. Electronic circular dichroism (ECD) studies on the complexation of these new enantiopure crown ethers with the enantiomers of α‐(1‐naphthyl)ethylammonium perchlorate (1‐NEA) and with α‐(2‐naphthyl)ethylammonium perchlorate (2‐NEA) were also carried out. These studies showed appreciable enantiomeric recognition with heterochiral [(S,S)‐crown ether plus either (R)‐1‐ or (R)‐2‐NEA] preference. Theoretical calculations found three significant intermolecular hydrogen bonds in the complexes of (S,S)‐9. Furthermore, preference for heterochiral complexes was also observed, in good agreement with ECD results. Complex formation constants were determined by NMR titration for four selected crown ether/NEA pairs.