Ten new molecular clefts were designed and synthesized in good yields by using hyodeoxycholic acid as spacer and different aromatic amines as arms attached at 3α-position of hyodeoxycholic acid via triphosgene under microwave irradiation. Their structures were characterized by ¹H NMR, IR, MS techniques and elemental analysis. The recognition properties of these molecular clefts for D/L-amino acid methyl esters were investigated. The preliminary results indicate that these molecular clefts have good enantioselectivity for D/L-amino acid methyl esters.

Key words: hyodeoxycholic acid, microwave irradiation, synthesis, molecular cleft