title: Determining Chiral Configuration of Diamines via Contact Angle Measurements on Enantioselective Alanine-Appended Benzene-Tricarboxamide Gelators.
abstract: Spectroscopic techniques exist that may discern between enantiomers and assess chiral purity. A nonspectroscopic approach that may be directly observed could provide numerous benefits. Using chiral alanine-appended benzene-tricarboxamide gelators, we reveal a methanol gel system that is capable of providing visual discrimination between enantiomers of various diamines. Specifically, gelation is induced by supramolecular nanofiber assembly resulting from interaction between a chiral gelator and a diamine of opposing chirality (i.e., a heterochiral system). Upon further implementing the chiral gelator in electrospun fibers as solid state films, we revealed enantioselective surface wetting properties that allowed for determining chirality through contact angle measurements. While these two approaches of observable gelation and surface wetting offer nonspectroscopic approaches, we also find that the supramolecular nanofiber assembly was able to enhance the induced circular dichroism signal resulting from addition of chiral diamines, allowing precise quantification of their enantiomeric purity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Gyeongsang National University , Jinju, 52828, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Sung Ho
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Jung
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Gyeongsang National University , Jinju, 52828, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Ka Young
authors.initials: KY
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Gyeongsang National University , Jinju, 52828, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Ahreum
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ahn
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Gyeongsang National University , Jinju, 52828, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Myong Yong
authors.initials: MY
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.affiliation: Chemical Engineering, Institute of Nano Science and Technology, Hanyang University , 222 Wangsimni-ro, Seoul 133-791, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Justyn
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jaworski
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Gyeongsang National University , Jinju, 52828, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Jong Hwa
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Jung
keywords: chiral configuration; contact angle; electrospun film; enantiomer; enantioselectivity