A racemic N,N ′-dioxide-iron(III) complex chemosensor for determination of enantiomeric excess, concentration and identity of hydroxy carboxylic acids with circular dichroism and fluorescence responses

A racemic N,N′-dioxide-iron(III) complex was first found to be an efficient chemosensor for simultaneous determination of the absolute configuration, concentration, and enantiomeric excess (ee) of hydroxy carboxylic acids in aqueous solution via circular dichroism (CD) and fluorescence. The accuracy of the ee measurement is very good, within 3%. And the analysis is fast, eliminating laborious derivatization and elaborating purification steps.