Nickel Complexes of Alanine Having a Preference for One Chiral Form over Another upon Crystallization

Abstract

Three complexes, [bis(L-, D-and DL-alaninato)(diaqua)]nickel(II) di-hydrate, were prepared and characterized by X-ray crystallography, gas chromatography, UV-Visible spectroscopy and isothermal calorimetry. Small deviations from the 50:50 distribution of the enantiomers assigned to chiral preferences of the ligands in the complexes were observed. The surprising and unexpected results indicate that complexing alanine with nickel(II) ion alters the racemization rates of D and L isomers of the amino acid. The precipitated complex due to change in pH resulted in preferential precipitation of one isomer with respect to the other. It has been observed that this alternation is ogmented by the long time span which would result in preferential protein forming from the L-isomer. Although the results are bizarre and perplexing, they are fascinating and sound scientifically.