Capillary electrophoresis investigation on the structure-enantioselectivity relationship in synthetic cyclopeptides as chiral selectors

We recently reported the use of a deconvolution strategy to identify the best chiral selectors for N-alpha-2,4-dinitrophenyl (Dnp) amino acid racemates from a combinatorial library composed of thousands of homodetic cyclohexapeptides. Selection was based on the capillary electrophoresis (CE) enantioresolution for a set of Dnp-amino acids. The groups involved in the chiral discrimination were assessed by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, which revealed a strong involvement of one of the aromatic rings of the cyclopeptide in the binding with the analyte. In order to better understand the recognition mechanism, and thus extend the applicability of the analytical system, modifications on both analyte and selector structure were introduced. The effects on separation were evaluated in terms of resolution values and mobility variation.