A Convenient Fluorescent Method to Simultaneously Determine the Enantiomeric Composition and Concentration of Functional Chiral Amines

A 1,1'-bi-2-naphthol (BINOL)-based chiral aldehyde in combination with Zn-II shows a highly enantioselective fluorescent response toward functional chiral amines at lambda > 500 nm. However, the combination of salicylaldehyde and Zn-II gives the same fluorescent enhancement for both enantiomers of a functional chiral amine at lambda = 447 nm. By using the fluorescent responses of the combination of the BINOL-based chiral aldehyde, salicylaldehyde and Zn-II at the two emission wavelengths, both the concentration and enantiomeric composition of functional chiral amines such as amino alcohols, diamines, and amino acids can be simultaneously determined by a single fluorescent measurement. This work provides a simple and convenient method for chiral assay.