Patent ID: 7354771

Claim:
A method for determining the absolute configuration of a chiral compound which comprises: coordinating the chiral compound to a metalloporphyrin represented by the following formula (I): {Î¼{{5,5â€²- (ethane-1, 2-diyl) bis [2, 3, 7, 8, 12, 13, 17, 18-octaethyl-21H, 23H-porphyrinato]( 4 -)}-ÎºN 21 , -ÎºN 22 , -ÎºN 23 , -ÎºN 24 , -ÎºN 21â€² , -ÎºN 22â€² , -ÎºN 23â€² , -ÎºN 24â€² , }}dizinc, the chiral compound having an asymmetric carbon bonded to a basic group capable of coordinating to the metal of the other porphyrin ring of the metalloporphyrin dimer or an asymmetric carbon atom adjacent to the carbon atom bonded to the basic group; and analyzing the resultant coordination compound by circular dichroism spectrophotometry to determine the absolute configuration of the asymmetric carbon of the chiral compound based on the sign of the Cotton effect, wherein when the first Cotton effect is positive, the absolute configuration of the chiral compound is (S), and when the first Cotton effect is negative, the absolute configuration of the chiral compound is (R).