Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 3, 2026
08:25
Development of Heterogeneous Enantioselective Catalysts using Chiral Metal-Organic Frameworks MOFs
Published on: January 17, 2020
7.8K
Covalent Organic Frameworks with Chirality Enriched by Biomolecules for Efficient Chiral Separation.
Sainan Zhang1,2, Yunlong Zheng1,2, Hongde An1,2
1State Key Laboratory of Medicinal Chemical Biology, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300071, China.
Angewandte Chemie (International Ed. in English)
|October 26, 2018
Summary
Researchers developed a new method to create chiral stationary phases by immobilizing biomolecules into covalent organic frameworks (COFs). These biomolecule-COFs effectively separate racemic compounds using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC).
Area of Science:
- Chiral chemistry
- Materials science
- Biochemistry
Background:
- Chiral separation is crucial in pharmacology and biology.
- Biomolecules possess unique chiral environments and specific interaction capabilities.
- Developing efficient chiral stationary phases remains an ongoing challenge.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a general strategy for enriching chirality into covalent organic frameworks (COFs).
- To create novel chiral stationary phases by immobilizing biomolecules into achiral COFs.
- To evaluate the efficacy of these biomolecule-COFs in separating various racemates.
Main Methods:
- Covalently immobilizing biomolecules (amino acids, peptides, enzymes) into achiral COFs.
- Utilizing the resulting biomolecule-COFs as chiral stationary phases in high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC).
- Employing surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) to investigate interactions between enzymes and racemates.
Main Results:
- The developed biomolecule-COFs exhibited high efficiency as chiral stationary phases.
- Successful separation of various racemates was achieved in both normal and reverse-phase HPLC.
- Surface-enhanced Raman scattering studies revealed distinct interactions between enzyme secondary structures and racemates, explaining separation capabilities.
Conclusions:
- Immobilizing biomolecules into COFs is a viable strategy to create effective chiral stationary phases.
- The biomolecule-COFs offer versatility and high efficiency for chiral separations.
- Understanding biomolecule-racemate interactions is key to optimizing chiral separation processes.
Related Concept Videos
02:25Chirality
29.5K
Chirality is a term that describes the lack of mirror symmetry in an object. In other words, chiral objects cannot be superposed on their mirror images. For example, our feet are chiral, as the mirror image of the left foot, the right foot, cannot be superposed on the left foot.
Chiral objects exhibit a sense of handedness when they interact with another chiral object. For example, our left foot can only fit in the left shoe and not in the right shoe. Achiral objects — objects that have...
Chiral objects exhibit a sense of handedness when they interact with another chiral object. For example, our left foot can only fit in the left shoe and not in the right shoe. Achiral objects — objects that have...
29.5K
02:30Chirality in Nature
17.2K
Chirality is the most intriguing yet essential facet of nature, governing life’s biochemical processes and precision. It can be observed from a snail shell pattern in a macroscopic world to an amino acid, the minutest building block of life. Most of the snails around the world have right-coiled shells because of the intrinsic chirality in their genes. All the amino acids present in the human body exist in an enantiomerically pure state, except for glycine - the sole achiral amino acid.
17.2K
02:30Chirality at Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Sulfur
7.0K
Chirality is most prevalent in carbon-based tetrahedral compounds, but this important facet of molecular symmetry extends to sp3-hybridized nitrogen, phosphorus and sulfur centers, including trivalent molecules with lone pairs. Here, the lone pair behaves as a functional group in addition to the other three substituents to form an analogous tetrahedral center that can be chiral.
A consequence of chirality is the need for enantiomeric resolution. While this is theoretically possible for all...
A consequence of chirality is the need for enantiomeric resolution. While this is theoretically possible for all...
7.0K
02:25Molecules with Multiple Chiral Centers
15.1K
Molecules that possess multiple chiral centers can afford a large number of stereoisomers. For instance, while some molecules like 2-butanol have one chiral center, defined as a tetrahedral carbon atom with four different substituents attached, several molecules like butane-2,3-diol have multiple chiral centers. A simple formula to predict the number of stereoisomers possible for a molecule with n chiral centers is 2n. However, there can be a lower number where some of the stereoisomers are...
15.1K
01:29Covalent Bonds
162.3K
Overview
162.3K
01:08Covalent Bonds
11.0K
Overview
When two atoms share electrons to complete their valence shells, they create a covalent bond. An atom's electronegativity—the force with which shared electrons are pulled towards an atom—determines how the electrons are shared. Molecules formed with covalent bonds can be either polar or nonpolar. Atoms with similar electronegativities form nonpolar covalent bonds; the electrons are shared equally. Atoms with different electronegativities share electrons unequally,...
When two atoms share electrons to complete their valence shells, they create a covalent bond. An atom's electronegativity—the force with which shared electrons are pulled towards an atom—determines how the electrons are shared. Molecules formed with covalent bonds can be either polar or nonpolar. Atoms with similar electronegativities form nonpolar covalent bonds; the electrons are shared equally. Atoms with different electronegativities share electrons unequally,...
11.0K