Richard V. Snyder

Stereoselectivity of N-carboxymethyl-amino acid complexes of copper(II) toward optically active amino acids

Abstract The stability constants for a series of mixed, labile copper(II) complexes of amino acids and amino acid derivatives are reported. These constants indicate that Cu(II) complexes of N-carboxymethyl- L -valine, - L -isoleucine, or - L -serine or Cu(II) complexes of N-benzyl-N-carboxymethyl- L -alanine or - L -leucine coordinate L -valine, L -leucine, or L -threonine more strongly than their D isomers. N-carboxymethyl- L -aspartic acid, - L -glutamic acid and - D -valine show opposite preferences. These results are discussed in terms of amine proton interactions between the ligands bound to the copper.