The determination of enantiomeric purity and absolute configuration is frequently necessary in organic synthesis. Pirkles alcohol is applied to obtain this information by NMR spectroscopy. When Pirkles alcohol is in solution with an ensemble of chiral molecules, short-lived diastereomeric solvates may be formed from Pirkles alcohol and the enantiomers of the analyte. Enantiomorphic protons of the analyte enantiomers, which without Pirkles alcohol are indistinguishable by NMR, become diastereomorphic when the analyte interacts with Pirkle's alcohol, and appear as different signals in an NMR spectrum. The relative magnitude of the signals quantitatively reveals the enantiomeric purity of the analyte. Also, a model of the solvated complex may be used to deduce absolute configuration of an enantioenriched analyte.