Helical Polyisocyanopeptides as Lyotropic Liquid Crystals for Measuring Residual Dipolar Couplings

Residual dipolar couplings (RDC) emerged to be an important structural parameter for organic and biomolecules. Herein, a new helical polyisocyanopeptide (l,l-PIAF-OBn) that forms lyotropic liquid crystals (LLC) in CDCl3 is proposed as a novel weakly orienting medium for acquiring residual dipolar couplings (RDCs) of organic molecules. We demonstrate its application for the structural elucidation of strychnine and triptolide.