Kazuko Ogasahara, Keiji Hirose, Yoshito Tobe and Koichiro Naemura
With (2S,4S)-2,4-dimethyl-3-oxapentane-1,5-diol and (S)- or (R)-1-phenylethane-1,2-diol as chiral subunits, optically active azophenolic crown ethers (S,S,S,S)-1, (R,S,S,R)-2, (S,S,S,S)-3 and (R,S,S,R)-4 possessing two phenyl and two methyl substituents together with the p-(2,4-dinitrophenylazo)phenol moiety have been prepared in enantiomerically pure forms. Temperature-dependent enantiomer selectivity in the complexation of these crown ethers with chiral amines has been studied by the UV–visible spectroscopic method in chloroform and from the observed association constants, thermodynamic parameters for the complexation have been calculated.