Chiral recognition of enantiomeric peptides in water at 25° by calorimetry

The heats of dilution in water of binary and ternary solutions of the two enantiomeric forms of N-acetylalanineamide have been measured at 25°. The excess enthalpies, expressed as virial expansion series, permit evaluation of the pairwise self and cross enthalpic coefficients. As for the chiral forms of some monosaccharides, the cross coefficient for the interaction between the D and L forms of N-acetylalanineamide is slightly but significantly different from the corresponding self coefficient. A weak, water-mediated chiral recognition can be assumed to exist between pairs of amide molecules. © 1985 Wiley Heyden Ltd., Chichester and Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest.