NMR analysis of chiral alcohols and amines: development of an environmentally benign “in tube” procedure with high efficiency and improved detection limit

A fast and efficient approach was developed for the NMR analysis of chiral alcohols and amines using readily available enantiopure MPA (α-methoxy-α-phenylacetic acid) and MTPA (α-methoxy-α-trifluoromethylphenylacetic acid) as chiral derivatizing agents. The procedure requires less than 5 min (including sample preparation time) for analysis using routine NMR hardware and allows accurate measurements for <0.01 mg of the sample of chiral compounds. Direct “in tube” analysis can be performed with high efficiency to determine enantiomeric purity and absolute configuration, as well as to monitor reactions in asymmetric synthesis and catalysis. The developed procedure is superior in terms of waste-free analysis of chiral compounds for environmentally benign applications.