Axially chiral allenophanes as synthetic receptors in molecular recognition events

Resumo

Molecular recognition and chirality are fundamental in various biological processes. For instance, an enzyme can selectively identify a specific substrate, thus triggering an appropriate response due to the close complementarity in terms of size, shape, and functional groups between the enzyme and the substrate. In this context, the synthesis of synthetic receptors that achieve the recognition of biologically active molecules is of great interest. This approach not only provides valuable information about molecular interactions but also facilitates the development of systems capable of detecting and quantifying biologically relevant molecules. Building on the group's previous experience, the synthesis of new chiral synthetic molecular receptors is proposed to carry out the recognition of target molecules. These receptors will be based on macrocyclic allenophane systems. The characterization of the formed association complexes will be studied in different organic solvents. As a monitoring technique, circular dichroism will be predominantly employed, taking advantage of its high sensitivity to conformational changes. The macrocycles will undergo conformational changes to adapt to the ligand during the encapsulation process, leading to the appearance of intense and characteristic bands in their ECD spectra.