Multimetallic Architectures from the Self-assembly of Amino Acids and Tris(2-pyridylmethyl)amine Zinc(II) Complexes: Circular Dichroism Enhancement by Chromophores Organization.

Stereodynamic optical probes are becoming very popular for their capability to act as molecular sensors for the determination of the enantiomeric excess (ee) of chiral compounds. Herein, we describe a new molecular architecture formed by the self-assembly of three zinc metal ions, two modified tris(2-pyridylmethyl)amine ligands, and two amino acids. This system is the structural and functional serendipitous evolution of our previous probe for the determination of amino acids ee. In the new system, one of the metals templates in close proximity two chromophores enhancing their exciton coupling.