Chirality-dependent sublimation of α-(trifluoromethyl)-lactic acid: Relative vapor pressures of racemic, eutectic, and enantiomerically pure forms, and vibrational spectroscopy of isolated (S,S) and (S,R) dimers

Abstract A mass-spectrometric determination of the sublimation pressure diagram of α -(trifluoromethyl)-lactic acid as a function of its enantiomeric composition at 293 K shows that the racemic crystals have a 38 ± 15 % higher volatility than the enantiomerically pure crystals and the sublimation eutectic has a 55 ± 10 % higher vapor pressure. These data indicate a possibility for thermodynamically controlled enantiomeric enrichment of the residual material via sublimation of samples of higher than 35 ± 10 %  ee. The vibrational spectroscopy of isolated ( S , S ) and ( S , R ) dimers in supersonic jets shows that chirality recognition effects are restricted to larger clusters. This is a consequence of the rigid planar carboxylic acid binding motif.