Aqueous-phase quantitative NMR determination of amino acid enantiomer ratio by 13C-NMR using chiral neodymium shift reagent.

A neodymium-(S)-PDTA (PDTA = N,N,N',N'-tetrakis[(hydroxycarbonyl)methyl]-1,2-diaminopropane) complex was found exceptionally useful in the quantitative determination of enantiomer ratios of water-soluble natural amino acids by (13)C-NMR. The method is demonstrated on mixtures of L- and D-enantiomers of various amino acids. The interactions of the chiral shift reagent with the amino acid molecules were rationalized by molecular orbital calculations.