Pd(II) Complexes of Chiral Proline-Derived Ligands: Application for Dynamic Thermodynamic Resolution of α-Amino Acids and Their Antibacterial Activities.

Novel type of Pd(II) complexes have been synthesized under operationally simple and convenient conditions and applied in the dynamic thermodynamic resolution of racemic N , C -unprotected α-amino acids. After rapid hydrolysis, these Pd(II) complexes produced the corresponding α-amino acids in satisfactory yields and enantioselectivities, accompanied by the recyclable proline-derived ligand. In addition, the method can be readily applied for S / R interconversion to obtain unnatural ( R )-α-amino acids from readily available ( S )-α-amino acids. Furthermore, biological assays showed that Pd(II) complexes ( S , S )- 3i and ( S , S )- 3m exhibited significant antibacterial activities similar to vancomycin, which may represent promising lead structures for further development of antibacterial agents.