Bidentate lactate binding in aqueous solution in a cationic, heptadentate lanthanide complex: an effective chiral derivatising agent.

The X-ray crystal structures of cationic, heptadentate lanthanide complexes of holmium and ytterbium bound to lactate are reported and the observed bidentate chelation in the solid state is consistent with near-IR CD (Yb) and solution NMR measurements; the complexes are shown to act as aqueous chiral derivatising agents for alpha-hydroxy acids.