Chiroptical sensing of homocysteine

摘要

The cyctization reaction between ort/io-phthalaldehyde and L-homocysteine coincides with the generation of a pronounced positive CD signal at approximately 335 nm. Under identical conditions, other amino acids including cysteine produce very weak CD responses. This unusual substrate specificity allows accurate chiroptical analysis of the enantiomeric composition of homocys-teine samples in the presence of cysteine without the need for time-consuming chromatographic separation. This significantly simplifies and speeds up ee determination at reduced solvent waste production.