Enantioresolution of aliphatic alcohols by lithocholamide.

Lithocholamide (LCAM) forms inclusion compounds with aliphatic alcohols involving over five carbon atoms. Enantioresolution of the racemic alcohols was studied in channels of the inclusion compounds. X-ray crystallographic study clarified that host assemblies exhibit guest-dependent polymorphism. In each polymorphic crystal, the more longer or bulkier groups the alcohols have, the effective the resolutions become. The inclusion spaces were analyzed by a computed tomographic method, explaining the chiral recognition mechanism from a stereochemical viewpoint.