S-Mg2(dobpdc): a metal-organic framework for determining chirality in amino acids.

Chirality is a key aspect of amino acids and is essential for life. Here, a chiral metal-organic framework, S-Mg2dobpdc, is used to determine the chirality of three BOC protected amino acids (alanine, valine and proline) by 13C solid-state NMR with chemical shift differences of up to 1.3 ppm observed between enantiomers. The chiral sensitivity persists upon in situ deprotection of the amino acids by thermolysis of the BOC group.