Determination of optical purity in partially racemized samples of l-aspartic acid by means of liquid crystals.
A method for the determination of the optical purity of partially racemized samples of l-aspartic acid, based on the measurement of the pitch and handedness of cholesteric mesophases induced in MBBA (p-methoxybenzylidene-p'-n-butylaniline), is described. The minimum quantity of aspartic acid required varies with the optical purity of the sample (from 50 mug for an enantiomeric purity of 10-20% down to 5 mug for purities around 90%).
Bertocchi
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Istituto di Chimica Organica, Universitá di Bologna, Viale Risorgimento 4, 40136 Bologna, Italy.