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Fibrils are β-sheet-rich aggregates that are generally composed of several protofibrils and may adopt variable morphologies, such as twisted ribbons or flat-like sheets. This polymorphism is observed for many different amyloid associated proteins and polypeptides. In a previous study we proposed the existence of another level of amyloid polymorphism, namely, that associated with fibril supramolecular chirality. Two chiral polymorphs of insulin, which can be controllably grown by means of small pH variations, exhibit opposite signs of vibrational circular dichroism (VCD) spectra. Herein, using atomic force microscopy (AFM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), we demonstrate that indeed VCD supramolecular chirality is correlated not only by the apparent fibril handedness but also by the sense of supramolecular chirality from a deeper level of chiral organization at the protofilament level of fibril structure. Our microscopic examination indicates that normal VCD fibrils have a left-handed twist, whereas reversed VCD fibrils are flat-like aggregates with no obvious helical twist as imaged by atomic force microscopy or scanning electron microscopy. A scheme is proposed consistent with observed data that features a dynamic equilibrium controlled by pH at the protofilament level between left- and right-twist fibril structures with distinctly different aggregation pathways for left- and right-twisted protofilaments.

The absolute configuration and solution conformation of (R)-(+)-malathion were determined by using vibrational circular dichroism spectroscopy and a fragment-conformational search with a recently published conformational code. The determination of molecular stereochemistry was carried out without a conformational search using molecular mechanics calculations. Density functional theory calculations of the fragments of (R)-malathion, ethyl propionate, (R)-ethyl 2-(methylthio)propanoate, (R)-diethyl 2-(methylthio)succinate, and O,O,S-trimethyl phosphorodithioate were carried out, and the principal conformational features of the fragments were profiled. This fragment-conformational search reduces the time needed for the selection of the predominant conformations for (R)-malathion and significantly improves the accuracy of the determination of absolute configuration. Chirality 21:E172–E180, 2009. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Near‐infrared (near‐IR) Fourier transform vibrational circular dichroism (FT‐VCD) spectroscopy has been used to monitor the epimerization of (S)‐(+)‐2,2‐dimethyl‐1,3‐dioxolane‐4‐methanol (S‐DDM). The near‐IR‐VCD spectra display clear isolated VCD bands at the range of 4700–5050 cm−1resulting from the OH stretch‐bend combination bands of S‐DDM, which were found to decrease in intensity with increasing reaction time. The near‐IR‐VCD spectra of 10 reference samples obtained were subjected to partial least‐squares (PLS) regression analysis, and the results were used to build predictive models for enantiomeric excess (EE) determination. Multivariate regression was carried out on three different sets of spectra, corresponding to the epimerization of S‐DDM in three different solvents: methylcyclohexane, carbon tetrachloride and tetrahydrofuran. The effects of solvent in DDM epimerization are discussed in terms of the relative stabilization of the reaction intermediate of the DDM epimerization reaction. The results of these near‐IR‐VCD studies for the determination of EE highlights the potential of VCD for in situ real‐time process monitoring of the reaction kinetics of chiral molecules in solution. Chirality, 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.

The first use of near-infrared (NIR) Fourier transform vibrational circular dichroism (FT-VCD) to follow changes in the enantiomeric excess (EE) of chiral sample molecules in time using a flow-cell sampling apparatus is reported. Simultaneous changes in the fractional composition and the EE of a mixture of two different chiral molecules were monitored as a function of time. This simulates the progress of the chemical reaction from a chiral reactant to a chiral product where the mole fractions and EE values of both species may change with time. For the molecules studied, α-pinene, camphor, and borneol, the accuracy of following EE changes for one species alone is approximately 2%, while for simultaneously following EE changes in two species it is approximately 3% for 30 min sampling periods at 16 cm−1spectral resolution. These findings demonstrate the potential for VCD to be used in the NIR region for real-time monitoring of the composition and %EE of chemical reactions involving the synthesis of chiral molecules.

We report the first vibrational circular dichroism (VCD) spectra with continuous coverage from 800 cm−1in the mid-infrared (MIR) region to 10 000 cm−1in the near-infrared (NIR) region. This coverage is illustrated with MIR and NIR absorbance and VCD spectra of 2,2-dimethyl-dioxolane-4-methanol (DDM), α-pinene, and camphor that serve as calibration samples over this entire region. Commercially available, dual-source Fourier transform (FT) MIR and NIR VCD spectrometers were equipped with appropriate light sources, optics, and detectors, and were modified for dual-polarization-modulation (DPM) operation. The combination of liquid-nitrogen- and thermoelectric-cooled HgCdTe (MCT) detectors, as well as InGaAs and Germanium (Ge) detectors operating at room temperature, permitted collection of the desired absorbance and VCD spectra across the range of vibrational fundamental, combination band, and overtone frequencies. The spectra of DDM and α-pinene were measured as neat liquids and recorded for both enantiomers in the various spectral regions. Spectra for camphor were all measured in CCl4solution at a concentration of 0.6 M, except for the carbonyl-stretching region, where a more dilute concentration was used. The typical anisotropy ratios (g) of the three molecules were estimated with respect to their strongest VCD bands in each spectral region. It was found that for all three molecules in the spectral regions above 2000 cm−1, anisotropy ratios are approximately the same order (10−5) of magnitude. However, in the MIR region, the typical anisotropy ratios are significantly different for the three molecules. This study demonstrates that with modern FT-VCD spectrometers modified for DPM operation, VCD spectra can be measured continuously across a wide spectral range from the MIR to nearly the visible region with an unsurpassed combination of signal-to-noise ratio and spectral resolution.

It is shown that the use of two sources in a four-port interferometer equipped with cube-corner mirrors leads to increased signal-to-noise ratios in Fourier transform (FT-IR) circular and linear dichroism spectra. The output beam to the sample is a superposition of two interferograms, one from each source, having opposite Fourier phases. These two interferograms cancel one another to the degree that the two sources are matched in intensity. If the radiation from each of the two sources is first polarized orthogonally with respect to the other and passed through a polarization modulator before reaching the sample, the resulting polarization-modulation interferograms are out of Fourier phase and out of polarization-modulation phase. As a result, the polarization-modulation interferograms, due to circular or linear dichroism in the sample, from the two sources combine positively rather than negatively. An improvement in signal-to-noise ratio of up to two (or a factor of four in scan-time reduction for the same signal-to-noise ratio) compared to single source operation can be realized, while at the same time, the potential for saturation of the detector signal is significantly reduced due to the reduction in magnitude of the combined ordinary infrared transmission interferogram. Absorption and circular dichroism spectra from a dual-source FT-IR spectrometer are presented and analyzed.