Synthesis and quantitative analysis of diastereomeric linked ester conjugates with remote stereocenters using high-field NMR and chiral HPLC.

A stereochemically safe high-yielding procedure for linking unprotected as well as protected hydroxycarboxylic acids to chiral secondary alcohols via glycolic acid linker is proposed. L-menthol has been linked with both enantiomers of mandelic, malic, and methoxyphenylacetic acid using bromo- or iodoacetyl group as a precursor of the glycolic acid linker. High-field nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and chiral high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) determination of high diastereomeric ratio (dr) (>99%) of the products bearing remote stereocenters was explored.