Diketo- and pyridine-containing chiral crown ligands having at least two
chiral bulky groups attached to two different chiral carbon atoms of the
crown that are covalently bonded to or coated on suitable solid supports,
and further coated by hydrophobic organic solvents are disclosed. These
compositions and associated methods are characterized by selectivity of
several target amine or amino acid enantiomers over their
counter-enantiomers and derivatives. The composition preferably has an
.alpha.-value greater than or equal to 4. This allows for the separation
of such enantiomers with non-chromatographic resin bed separations of
three separation stages or less.