Highly Enantioselective Extraction of Phenylglycine by a Chiral Macrocyclic Receptor Based on Supramolecular Interactions

Using supramolecular interactions, a novel macrocyclic receptor is able to selectively extract zwitterionic phenylglycine from neutral aqueous solutions into chloroform with up to 91.8% ee. Modeling studies, nuclear magnetic resonance experiments, and X-ray diffraction analysis were carried out to explain the high enantioselectivity observed.