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Synthetic DNA-transfection reagents can overcome safety issues raised by use of viral DNA vectors. One of these candidates is a cationic lipid that can form a supramolecular complex with DNA. We ha...

A simple chiral derivatisation protocol for determining the enantiopurity of O-silyl-protected-1,2-amino alcohols by 1H NMR spectroscopic analysis is described, which involves their treatment with 2-formylphenylboronic acid and enantiopure (syn)-methyl-2,3-dihydroxy-3-phenylpropionate to afford mixtures of imino-boronate esters whose diastereoisomeric ratio is an accurate reflection of the enantiopurity of the parent amino alcohol.

Two practically simple chiral derivatization protocols for determining the enantiopurity of chiral diols by (1)H NMR and (19)F NMR spectroscopic analysis are described, involving treatment of the diol with 2-formylphenylboronic acid and alpha-methyl-4-fluorobenzylamine, or its derivatization with 4-fluoro-2-formylphenylboronic acid and alpha-methyl-benzylamine. Both approaches afford mixtures of imino-boronate esters whose diastereomeric ratio may be measured by (1)H NMR or (19)F NMR spectroscopy, the value of which is an accurate reflection of the enantiopurity of the parent diol.

A simple three-component chiral derivatization protocol for determining the enantiopurity of chiral primary amines by 1H NMR spectroscopic analysis is described here. The method involves condensation of the amines with 2-formylphenylboronic acid and enantiopure 1,1'-bi-2-naphthol. This approach affords a mixture of diastereoisomeric iminoboronate esters whose ratio can be determined by the integration of well-resolved diastereotopic resonances in their 1H NMR spectra, thus enabling the enantiopurity of the parent amine to be determined easily. The protocol, as described, takes less than 90 min to complete.

Chirality plays a central role in the world around us, with nature and scientists producing an ever-increasing number of chiral molecules that have a wide range of different applications. The word chirality is used as a term to describe a molecule whose enantiomers are non-superimposable on their mirror images. A chiral molecule that contains a single stereogenic center may exist in an enantiopure form or as a mixture of enantiomers in varying ratios. Enantiomers exhibit identical physical and chemical properties when present in an achiral environment; however, they often behave very differently when placed in a chiral environment. Many biologically active molecules such as proteins, nucleic acids, and sugars are chiral biopolymers that are constructed from homochiral building blocks.