Preparation of amino acid chiral ionic liquid and visual chiral recognition of glutamine and phenylalanine enantiomers

Abstract In this paper, the amino acid chiral ionic liquid (AACIL) was prepared with L‐phenylalanine and imidazole. It was characterized by CD, FT‐IR, 1 H NMR, and 13 C NMR spectrum. The chiral recognition sensor was constructed with AACIL and Cu(II), which exhibited different chiral visual responses (solubility or color difference) to the enantiomers of glutamine (Gln) and phenylalanine (Phe). The effects of solvent, pH, time, temperature, metal ions, and other amino acids on visual chiral recognition were optimized. The minimum concentrations of Gln and Phe for visual chiral recognition were 0.20 mg/ml and 0.28 mg/ml, respectively. The mechanism of chiral recognition was investigated by FT‐IR, TEM, SEM, TG, XPS, and CD. The location of the host‐guest inclusion or molecular placement has been conformationally searched based on Gaussian 09 software.