Synthesis and Application of a Hydrophobic Polyglutamate Bearing a Triphenylphosphine Group for the Orientation of Pharmaceutically Active Compounds and the Measurement of Residual Dipolar Couplings

We present a novel homopolyglutamate-based lyotropic liquid crystal, bearing a bulky and hydrophobic triphenylphosphine side chain. We successfully applied it as an alignment medium for measuring RDCs in artemisinin, an antimalarial drug, galantamine, used to treat Alzheimer's disease, and vincamine, a cerebral vasodilator and potential anticancer agent. Our results show that this alignment medium is of high interest for elucidating compounds characterized by high complexity and relevance in the research field of small molecule pharmaceuticals.