Publications

Development and Investigation of NMR tools for chiral compound identification

Alam, Todd M.; Dernov, Vitaliy D.

The goal behind the assigned summer project was to investigate the ability of nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR) to identify enantiomers of select chiral organo-fluorophosphates (OFPs) compounds which are analogs of chemical warfare agents (CWAs, e.g. Sarin). This involved investigations utilizing chiral solvating agents (CSAs) and characterizing the binding phenomena with cyclodextrins. The resolution of OFPs enantiomers using NMR would be useful for research into toxicodynamics and toxicokinetics in biological systems due to the widely differing properties of the CWA enantiomers [1]. The optimization of decontamination abilities in the case of a CWA events, with this method’s potential rapidity and robustness, as well as the development of models correlating chiral compounds with CSAs for optimal resolution are all rational benefits of this research.