Chiral chromatography is one of the most common techniques to discriminate between enantiomers, as well as determine enantiomeric excess of chiral samples. However, certain classes of compounds, such as aliphatic amines, are challenging to separate using chromatographic methods.

Yanchuan Zhao and Timothy M. Swager, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, USA, have designed a chemosensory platform based on a fluorine-containing chiral Pd pincer scaffold. Upon binding to different chiral amines, the ¹⁹F NMR signals of the ligand’s fluorine atoms exhibit distinct shifts, forming the basis for qualitative characterization. Owing to its high sensitivity, this platform can identify up to 12 chiral amines at the same time. More importantly, the novel design approach could lead to sensors targeting other important chiral compounds.

• Simultaneous Chirality Sensing of Multiple Amines by ¹⁹F NMR,
  Y. Zhao, T. M. Swager,
  J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2015.
  DOI: 10.1021/jacs.5b00556