New chiral selectors derived from lactic acid. Cocrystalline and sorptive optical resolutions, and the crystal structure of an inclusion complex with 3-methylcyclohexanone

A new type of optically active clathrate formers derived from lactic acid, 1, is described, enabling useful enantiomer separations of different chiral compounds via cocrystallization and, for the first time, via sorption; the X-ray structure of the 2:1 inclusion complex between 1a and 3-methylcyclohexanone is reported.