Resumen de Acid-Base Titration of (S)-Aspartic Acid:: A Circular Dichroism Spectrophotometry Experiment
Ana M. V. Cavaleiro, Júlio D. Pedrosa de Jesus
The magnitude of the circular dichroism of (S)-aspartic acid in aqueous solutions at a fixed wavelength varies with the addition of strong base. This laboratory experiment consists of the circular dichroism spectrophotometric acid-base titration of (S)-aspartic acid in dilute aqueous solutions, and the use of the resulting data to determine the ionization constant of the protonated amino group. The work familiarizes students with circular dichroism and illustrates the possibility of performing titrations using a less usual instrumental method of following the course of a reaction. It shows the use of a chiroptical property in the determination of the concentration in solution of an optically active molecule, and exemplifies the use of a spectrophotometric titration in the determination of an ionization constant.
