PREPARATION OF CHLOROFLUOROACETIC ACID-DERIVATIVES FOR THE ANALYSIS OF CHIRAL ALCOHOLS

(R)- and (S)- Chlorofluoroacetic acid (CFA) esters of several chiral s econdary alcohols have been prepared and compared with the correspondi ng esters of Mosher's acid. CFA itself is a readily accessible and opt ically stable acid which gives the expected diastereoisomeric products with chiral alcohols without epimerization. The resulting diastereois omers are more volatile than those derived from Mosher's acid, and are well resolved by both GC and HPLC. Both H-1 and F-19 NMR spectra of C FA esters show characteristic signals in regions rarely overlapped by other signals. Since CFA is a strong organic acid, it reacts with alco hols spontaneously to give esters without any additional catalysis.