Streamlined method to ID chiral selectors

In searching for new stationary phases for chiral separations, the usual ways to find selector molecules are time- and labor-intensive, requiring researchers to immobilize either the selectors or the targets on a stationary phase and sometimes even to pack the potential chiral stationary phase in a column. Stephen G. Weber, Peter Wipf, and their coworkers at the University of Pittsburgh describe a simpler method for identifying new chiral selectors based on the partitioning of a chiral analyte between an aqueous phase and polymer films with or without a chiral selector present (J. Am. Chem. Soc., published online Jan. 31, dx.doi.org/10.1021/ja058004x). The difference in the distributions reports how well the selector binds the target. The researchers used the method to screen a library of 12 potential chiral selectors for econazole, an antifungal agent. They found one compound with measurable enantioselective binding, although the selectivity was too low for practical use as a chiral selector.