PHOTOCHEMISTRY IN BIOLOGICAL MATRICES - BINDING-SITE PHOTOREACTIVITY OF KETOPROFEN IN SERUM ALBUMINS AND CHIRAL DISCRIMINATION

Two binding sites for ketoprofen exist in Bovine Serum Albumin resulti ng in remarkably different circular dichroism and photoreactivity on t he antiinflammatory drug, irrespective of its chirality. The slightly different affinity of the ketoprofen antipodes for these sites allows chiral recognition: the resultant photodiscrimination level is, howeve r, too low for processes of photoresolution of practical interest. Ena ntiomer affinity can be tuned by addition of foreign substances. A sim ple model is able to account for the experimental results.