Prediction of ROA and ECD Related to Conformational Changes of Astaxanthin Enantiomers

ECD, ROA, and VCD were used to characterize astaxanthin conformers that differ in their arrangements of the β-ionone ring in respect to the chain. We obtained ECD spectra experimentally, and the ECD, ROA, and VCD spectra of both individual conformers and conformation-averaged mixtures were predicted using quantum-chemical calculations at the CAM-B3LYP level of theory using the PCM solvation model. The chiroptical methods employed (particularly ECD and ROA) were considerably more sensitive to conformational changes of astaxanthin compared to "mono-signed" conventional Raman spectroscopy. Strikingly, conformers that are the same optical isomers (e.g., of 3S,3'S-astxanthin), while geometrically nearly mirror images, exhibited sign-inversed ECD and ROA spectra. The conformational sensitivity of these chiroptical methods makes them a promising tool in the study of carotenoids in the natural environment (for instance, in de novo algal or yeast astaxanthin sources).