Chiral lariat ethers as membrane carriers for chiral amino acids and their sodium and potassium salts

Four chiral lariat ethers 8-11 containing a (p-methoxyphenoxy) methyl side arm were used for chiral discrimination of amino acids in their zwitterionic form or as potassium and sodium salts in transport across a bulk chloroform membrane with satisfactory selectivity. The carriers that were employed exhibited different transport selectivity relative to the amino acids and their Salts under study. The D/L selectivity strongly depends on the amino acids or their salts, and in some cases reverse selectivity has been obtained. The best selectivity was obtained in the case of tyrosine and its potassium salts for all carriers. The transport rates of amino acids and their salts were found to be controlled by factors such as the structure of the carriers and amino acids or their salts. Among these factors, it was also found that the side arm of the lariat ethers plays an important role in the transport process. As a consequence, the main goal of our investigation was to separate the chiral amino acids through liquid membranes. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.