Cyclic Oligopyrroles as Sensors for Absolute Configuration Determination of Carboxylic Acids

Absolute configuration of carboxylic acids, including amino acids can be determined by circular dichroism (CD) exciton chirality method. This method employs cyclic oligopyrroles able to form stable complexes with carboxylic acids. Addition of carboxylic acids to the oligopyrroles induce CD spectrum at the macrocycle absorption region and in which the sign of the $1^{st}$ Cotton effect is determined solely by the absolute configuration of the carboxylic acid. The basicity of the pyrrole nitrogen can be controlled by macrocycle substitution thus yielding more sensitive chirality sensors.