A new chiral dinuclear Salen Zn(II) complex was synthesized from a new chiral salen intermediate. The chiral molecular recognition of imidazoles and diamines was studied by the chiral salen Zn(II), and associative constants of host with guest were measured. The sequence of such constants of the host with imidazoles is K^θ(Im)＞K^θ(2-MeIm)＞K^θ(EMeIm), and that with diamines isK^θ(DAP)＞K^θ(DAE). The coordination numbers of the host with imidazoles are 2, while those with diamines are 1. It was found that the molecular recognition process was driven by decrease of enthalpy. CD spectra of host-guest recognition behavior were also studied. The minimal energy configurations of host-guest complexes were obtained by simulated annealing, and based on that, quantum chemical calculation was performed to explain the experimental results.

Key words: new chiral salen intermediate, dinuclear chiral Salen Zn(II) complex, molecular recognition, CD spectra, quantum chemical calculation