Discrimination of the enantiomers of new biphenylic derivatives in chiral micellar aggregates

The synthesis and characterization of two new chiral biphenylic derivatives is reported. The rotational barriers have been calculated on simpler homologues. The racemic mixtures of the two compounds have been used as probes of chirality for exploring the sites of chiral recognition in chiral micellar aggregates. Results suggest that one of the sites of chiral discrimination is the hydrophobic part of the aggregates, far from the stereogenic centres.