Chiral discrimination upon crystallisation of the diastereomeric salts of 1-arylethylamines with mandelic acid or p-methoxymandelic acid: Interpretation of the resolution efficiencies on the basis of the crystal structures

The crystal structures of the diastereomeric salts of 1-arylethylamines with mandelic acid or p-methoxymandelic acid have been studied. This revealed that there was correlation between the efficiencies of the optical resolutions of the amines with the resolving reagents and the crystal structures of the salts, A characteristic hydrogen-bond layer, consisting of stable columnar structures and having a planar boundary surface, was found to be common to the less-soluble salt crystals; these crystals were considered to be stabilised from the viewpoint of both their hydrogen-bonding and van der Waals interactions. In contrast, in the corresponding more-soluble salts and in those diastereomeric salts which could not be separated by crystallisation, no such particularly stabilised crystal structure was formed; there only existed either columnar structures or planar boundary surfaces in these crystals. These results strongly suggest that for successful resolution it is necessary to realise a hydrogen-bond layer, consisting of stable columns and having planar boundary surfaces, in the crystals of one of the pair of diastereomeric salts, In order to achieve such a crystal structure, complementarity in molecular length between a target racemate and a resolving reagent must be considered the most important and fundamental factor.