Chirality sensing and size recognition of N-Boc-amino acids by cage-type dimeric lanthanide complexes: chirality detection of N-Boc-aspartate anions via luminescence colour change

Chiral luminescent lanthanide complexes, characterized by covalently-linked face-to-face octadentate cyclen (tetraaza-12-crown-4) ligands, specifically bound a chiral N-Boc-aspartate among various N-Boc amino acid anions to enhance Eu(III) luminescence intensity at 615 nm. The combination of Tb(III) and Eu(III) complexes enabled naked-eye discrimination of N-Boc-D- and L-aspartates via the luminescence colour change.