Enantiomeric recognition of amino acids by amphiphilic crown ethers in Langmuir monolayers

Four new chiral, amphiphilic crown ethers differing by the hydrophobic tailgroups were synthesized, and their capacity to recognize enantiomeric amino acids was examined using Langmuir films. Surface pressure and surface potential measurements performed on the subphases containing L or D enantiomers of alanine, valine, phenylglycine, and tryptophane indicate that the crown ethers forming the monolayer interact with the amino acids. The effects observed are ascribed to the formation of host-guest complexes. The differences in the magnitude of the effects measured show that the crown ethers are capable of discriminating between different amino acids as well as the enantiomers. Our results demonstrate that the structure of the monolayer plays a decisive role in the molecular recognition process including chiral recognition.