Chiral Crystals from Dynamic Combinatorial Libraries of Achiral Macrocyclic Imines

Dynamic combinatorial chemistry (DCC) was initially introduced as a means to solve problems of effective synthesis of complex compounds in solution. It benefits from the use of reversible reactions to connect simple building blocks under thermodynamic control. We present an application of DCC to generate structurally diverse crystalline complexes of macrocyclic imines, some of which crystallized as chiral crystals, despite the use of achiral substrates only. Features of imine complexes such as easy synthesis of building blocks and a high tendency to crystallize make them good candidates for studying the relationship between molecular structure and crystallinity.动态组合化学（Dynamic combinatorial chemistry，DCC）最初被提出，用于解决溶液相复杂化合物的高效合成问题。该方法借助可逆反应，在热力学调控下将简单构筑单元进行连接。本文报道了将DCC用于制备结构多样的大环亚胺晶体配合物的应用案例：尽管仅使用非手性底物，仍有部分配合物结晶为手性晶体。亚胺配合物具有构筑单元合成简便、结晶倾向性高等特性，使其成为研究分子结构与结晶性之间关联的理想候选体系。