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Published on: January 17, 2019
Revealing Pathway Complexity in Host-Guest Binding: Allosteric Regulation and Temporal Chiral Inversion During
Long Chen1, Xiaotong Liang1, Pinyou Wang1
1Key Laboratory of Green Chemistry and Technology of the Ministry of Education, College of Chemistry, and State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610064, China.
This study reveals novel chiral inversion kinetics in host-guest complexation using Naphtho[n,n]urils (NGU[n,n]). Complexation induces conformational changes and chiral allosteric regulation, offering new insights into supramolecular chemistry.
Area of Science:
- Supramolecular Chemistry
- Host-Guest Chemistry
- Chemical Kinetics
Background:
- Pathway complexity in supramolecular polymerization kinetics is known.
- These kinetics are not directly applicable to host-guest systems.
- Chiral allosteric regulation in host-guest systems remains underexplored.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate unprecedented chiral inversion kinetics in host-guest complexation.
- To explore the relationship between sequential binding, conformational interconversion, and chirality.
- To synthesize and characterize Naphtho[n,n]urils (NGU[n,n]) for host-guest studies.
Main Methods:
- One-pot three-component condensation for NGU[n,n] synthesis.
- Stepwise complexation studies with chiral amino acid derivatives.
- Circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy to monitor conformational changes and chirality.
Main Results:
- NGU[2,2] exhibits interconvertible racemic and meso conformers due to planar chirality.
- Complexation induces a circular dichroism (CD) response by shifting the conformer equilibrium.
- A transition from 1:1 to 1:2 complexation triggers chiral inversion and allosteric regulation.
- Temporal inversion of the CD signal with a transient overshoot and sign reversal was observed.
Conclusions:
- Coupling of sequential binding and conformational interconversion leads to unique chiral inversion kinetics.
- NGU[2,2] demonstrates chiral allosteric regulation upon guest binding.
- The meso conformer plays a critical role in the observed kinetic behavior.
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