Apparent and true enantioselectivity in enantioseparations

Enantioseparation of a-substituted proline analogs with macrocyclic glycopeptide-based chiral stationary phases immobilized on superficially porous particles of silica applying liquid chromatography with ultraviolet and mass spectrometric detection

In this study, the liquid chromatography-based direct enantioseparation of the stereoisomers of α-substituted proline analogs has been investigated utilizing chiral stationary phases with UV and/or mass spectrometric (MS) detection. Macrocyclic antibiotics, such as vancomycin, teicoplanin, modified teicoplanin, and teicoplanin aglycone, all covalently immobilized to 2.7 μm superficially porous silica particles have been applied as stationary phases. Mobile phases utilizing mixtures of methanol and acetonitrile with different additives (polar-ionic mode) were optimized during method development. Best separations were achieved with mobile phases of 100% MeOH containing either 20 mM acetic acid or 20 mM triethylammonium acetate. Special attention was given to the applicability of MS-compatible mobile phases. Acetic acid was found to be advantageous as a mobile phase additive for MS detection. Enantioselective chromatographic behaviors are interpreted based on the explored correlations between the analytes' structural features and those of the applied chiral stationary phases. For the thermodynamic characterization, separations were studied in the temperature range of 5-50 °C. Generally, retention and selectivity decreased with increasing temperature, and in most cases, enthalpy-driven enantiorecognition was observed, but entropic contributions also were present. Unexpectedly, unusual shapes for the van Deemter curves were registered in the kinetic evaluations. General trends could be observed in the enantiomeric elution orders: S < R on VancoShell and NicoShell, and opposite R < S on TeicoShell and TagShell columns.

Enantioseparation of cloprostenol on the polysaccharide chiral stationary phase: Influence of the mobile phase on enantioselective adsorption

Cloprostenol (CLO) is an important chiral drug widely used in veterinary practice. In high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), the acetonitrile/water system is more effective in the chiral resolution of CLO. The change in the ratio of acetonitrile and water has a great influence on the chiral selectivity of CLO. The enantioselective adsorption and nonselective adsorption of CLO on the polysaccharide stationary phase with three groups of mobile phases (Acetonitrile / 0.1 TFA; 95 Acetonitrile/5 H₂O/0.1 TFA; 45 Acetonitrile/55 H₂O/0.1 TFA) were determined and fitted with the subtraction fitting method (SFM). Adding a small amount of water to the mobile phase mainly reduced the enantioselective equilibrium adsorption constants K_s of (-)-CLO and thus changed the selectivity. Among them, the true separation factor (α_true) of the 95 Acetonitrile/5 H₂O mobile phase was as high as 92.86. Chiral preparation was performed on the basis of this mobile phase. The preparation performance in kkd (kilograms per kilogram of stationary phase purified compound per day) was 0.25 kg racemate/kg CSP/day.

Enantioseparation of ß2-amino acids by liquid chromatography using core-shell chiral stationary phases based on teicoplanin and teicoplanin aglycone

Enantioseparation of nineteen ß²-amino acids has been performed by liquid chromatography on chiral stationary phases based on native teicoplanin and teicoplanin aglycone covalently bonded to 2.7 µm superficially porous silica particles. Separations were carried out in unbuffered (water/methanol), buffered [aqueous triethylammonium acetate (TEAA)/methanol] reversed-phase (RP) mode, and in polar-ionic (TEAA containing acetonitrile/methanol) mobile phases. Effects of pH in the RP mode, acid and salt additives, as well as counter-ion concentrations on chromatographic parameters have been studied. The structure of selectands (ß²-amino acids possessing aliphatic or aromatic side chains) and selectors (native teicoplanin or teicoplanin aglycone) was found to have a considerable influence on separation performance. Analysis of van Deemter plots and determination of thermodynamic parameters were performed to further explore details of the separation performance.

Enantioseparation of 5,5'-Dibromo-2,2'-Dichloro-3-Selanyl-4,4'-Bipyridines on Polysaccharide-Based Chiral Stationary Phases: Exploring Chalcogen Bonds in Liquid-Phase Chromatography

The chalcogen bond (ChB) is a noncovalent interaction based on electrophilic features of regions of electron charge density depletion (σ-holes) located on bound atoms of group VI. The σ-holes of sulfur and heavy chalcogen atoms (Se, Te) (donors) can interact through their positive electrostatic potential (V) with nucleophilic partners such as lone pairs, π-clouds, and anions (acceptors). In the last few years, promising applications of ChBs in catalysis, crystal engineering, molecular biology, and supramolecular chemistry have been reported. Recently, we explored the high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) enantioseparation of fluorinated 3-arylthio-4,4′-bipyridines containing sulfur atoms as ChB donors. Following this study, herein we describe the comparative enantioseparation of three 5,5′-dibromo-2,2′-dichloro-3-selanyl-4,4′-bipyridines on polysaccharide-based chiral stationary phases (CSPs) aiming to understand function and potentialities of selenium σ-holes in the enantiodiscrimination process. The impact of the chalcogen substituent on enantioseparation was explored by using sulfur and non-chalcogen derivatives as reference substances for comparison. Our investigation also focused on the function of the perfluorinated aromatic ring as a π-hole donor recognition site. Thermodynamic quantities associated with the enantioseparation were derived from van’t Hoff plots and local electron charge density of specific molecular regions of the interacting partners were inspected in terms of calculated V. On this basis, by correlating theoretical data and experimental results, the participation of ChBs and π-hole bonds in the enantiodiscrimination process was reasonably confirmed.

Polysaccharide-based chiral stationary phases as efficient tools for diastereo- and enantioseparation of natural and synthetic Cinchona alkaloid analogs

In this study, we present results obtained on the diastereo- and enantioseparation of some basic natural and synthetic Cinchona alkaloid analogs by applying liquid chromatographic (LC) and subcritical fluid chromatographic (SFC) modalities on amylose and cellulose tris-(phenylcarbamate)-based stationary phases using n-hexane/alcohol/DEA or CO₂/alcohol/DEA mobile phase systems. Seven chiral stationary phases in their immobilized form were employed to explore their stereoselectivity for a series of closely related group of analytes. The most important characteristics of LC and SFC systems were evaluated through the variation of the applied chromatographic conditions (e.g., the nature and content of the alcohol modifier, the concentration of additives, temperature). The columns Chiralpak IC and IG turned out to be the best in both LC and SFC modalities. Temperature-dependence study indicated enthalpy-controlled separation in most cases; however, separation controlled by entropy was also registered.

High-performance liquid chromatographic enantioseparation of isopulegol-based ß-amino lactone and ß-amino amide analogs on polysaccharide-based chiral stationary phases focusing on the change of the enantiomer elution order

The enantioselective separation of newly prepared, pharmacologically significant isopulegol-based ß-amino lactones and ß-amino amides has been studied by carrying out high-performance liquid chromatography on diverse amylose and cellulose tris-(phenylcarbamate)-based chiral stationary phases (CSPs) in n-hexane/alcohol/diethylamine or n-heptane/alcohol/ diethylamine mobile phase systems. For the elucidation of mechanistic details of the chiral recognition, seven polysaccharide-based CSPs were employed under normal-phase conditions. The effect of the nature of selector backbone (amylose or cellulose) and the position of substituents of the tris-(phenylcarbamate) moiety was evaluated. Due to the complex structure and solvation state of polysaccharide-based selectors and the resulting enantioselective interaction sites, the chromatographic conditions (e.g., the nature and content of alcohol modifier) were found to exert a strong influence on the chiral recognition process, resulting in a particular elution order of the resolved enantiomers. Since no prediction can be made for the observed enantiomeric resolution, special attention has been paid to the identification of the elution sequences. The comparison between the effectiveness of covalently immobilized and coated polysaccharide phases allows the conclusion that, in several cases, the application of coated phases can be more advantageous. However, in general, the immobilized phases may be preferred due to their increased robustness. Thermodynamic parameters derived from the temperature-dependence of the selectivity revealed enthalpically-driven separations in most cases, but unusual temperature behavior was also observed.

Chiral high-performance liquid and supercritical fluid chromatographic enantioseparations of limonene-based bicyclic aminoalcohols and aminodiols on polysaccharide-based chiral stationary phases

Enantioseparation of limonene-based bicyclic 1,3-aminoalcohols and 1,3,5- and 1,3,6-aminodiols was performed by normal-phase high-performance liquid chromatographic and supercritical fluid chromatographic (SFC) methods on polysaccharide-based chiral stationary phases. The effects of the composition of the mobile phase, the column temperature and the structures of the analytes and chiral selectors on retention and selectivity were investigated by normal-phase LC and SFC technique. Thermodynamic parameters derived from selectivity-temperature-dependence studies were found to be dependent on the chromatographic method applied, the nature of the chiral selector and the structural details of the analytes. Enantiorecognition in most cases was enthalpically driven but an unusual temperature behavior was also observed: decreased retention times were accompanied by improved separation factors with increasing temperature, i.e. some entropically driven separations were also observed. The elution sequence was determined in all cases. The separation of the stereoisomers was optimized in both chromatographic modalities.

Liquid chromatographic enantiomer separations applying chiral ion-exchangers based on Cinchona alkaloids

As the understanding of the various biological actions of compounds with different stereochemistry has grown, the necessity to develop methods for the analytical qualification and quantification of chiral products has become particularly important. The last quarter of the century has seen a vast growth of diverse chiral technologies, including stereocontrolled synthesis and enantioselective separation and analysis concepts. By the introduction of covalently bonded silica-based chiral stationary phases (CSPs), the so-called direct liquid chromatographic (LC) methods of enantiomer separation became the state-of-the-art methodology. Although a large number of CSPs is available nowadays, the design and development of new chiral selectors and CSPs are still needed since it is obvious that in practice one needs a good portfolio of different CSPs and focused "chiral columns" to tackle the challenging tasks. This review discusses and summarizes direct enantiomer separations of chiral acids and ampholytes applying anionic and zwitterionic ion-exchangers derived from Cinchona alkaloids with emphasis on literature data published in the last 10 years. Our aim is to provide an overview of practical solutions, while focusing on the integration of molecular recognition and methodological variables.

Liquid chromatographic enantioseparation of carbocyclic β-amino acids possessing limonene skeleton on macrocyclic glycopeptide-based chiral stationary phases

Polar-ionic and reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatographic separations of limonene-based cyclic β-amino acid enantiomers were carried out by using macrocyclic glycopeptide-based chiral selectors applying Chirobiotic T, TAG and R columns. The effects of additives, concentration of the co- and counter-ions and the temperature in polar-ionic mobile phase systems were studied. The influence of pH, MeOH content and alcohol additives were investigated in the reversed-phase mode. The difference in the change in standard enthalpy Δ(ΔH°), entropy Δ(ΔS°), and free energy Δ(ΔG°) was calculated from the linear van't Hoff plots derived from the ln α vs 1/T curves in the temperature range 5-40°C. Unusual temperature behavior was observed on Chirobiotic TAG for most of the analytes: decreased retention times were accompanied with increased separation factors with increasing temperature, and separation was entropically-driven. For two of the studied analytes enthalpically-driven enantioseparations were observed. The elution sequence was determined in all cases, but no general rule could be established.

A Comparative Study of Enantioseparations of Nα-Fmoc Proteinogenic Amino Acids on Quinine-Based Zwitterionic and Anion Exchanger-Type Chiral Stationary Phases under Hydro-Organic Liquid and Subcritical Fluid Chromatographic Conditions

The focus of this contribution is a comparative investigation of enantioseparations of 19 N^α-Fmoc proteinogenic amino acids on Quinine-based zwitterionic and anion-exchanger type chiral stationary phases employing hydro-organic and polar-ionic liquid and subcritical fluid chromatographic conditions. Effects of mobile phase composition (including additives, e.g., water, basis and acids) and nature of chiral selectors on the chromatographic performances were studied at different chromatographic modes. Thermodynamic parameters of the temperature dependent enantioseparation results were calculated in the temperature range 5–50 °C applying plots of lnα versus 1/T. The differences in standard enthalpy and standard entropy for a given pair of enantiomers were calculated and served as a basis for comparisons. Elution sequence in all cases was determined, where a general rule could be observed, both in liquid and subcritical fluid chromatographic mode the d-enantiomers eluted before the L ones. In both modes, the principles of ion exchange chromatography apply.

Chiral recognition by enantioselective liquid chromatography: mechanisms and modern chiral stationary phases

An overview of the state-of-the-art in LC enantiomer separation is presented. This tutorial review is mainly focused on mechanisms of chiral recognition and enantiomer distinction of popular chiral selectors and corresponding chiral stationary phases including discussions of thermodynamics, additivity principle of binding increments, site-selective thermodynamics, extrathermodynamic approaches, methods employed for the investigation of dominating intermolecular interactions and complex structures such as spectroscopic methods (IR, NMR), X-ray diffraction and computational methods. Modern chiral stationary phases are discussed with particular focus on those that are commercially available and broadly used. It is attempted to provide the reader with vivid images of molecular recognition mechanisms of selected chiral selector-selectand pairs on basis of solid-state X-ray crystal structures and simulated computer models, respectively. Such snapshot images illustrated in this communication unfortunately cannot account for the molecular dynamics of the real world, but are supposed to be helpful for the understanding. The exploding number of papers about applications of various chiral stationary phases in numerous fields of enantiomer separations is not covered systematically.

Comparison of performance of Chirobiotic T, T2 and TAG columns in the separation of beta2- and beta3-homoamino acids

The enantiomers of eight unusual beta(2)- and beta(3)-homoamino acids were separated on chiral stationary phases containing the macrocyclic glycopeptide antibiotic teicoplanin (Chirobiotic T or T2) or teicoplanin aglycone (Chirobiotic TAG) as chiral selectors. The effects of the organic modifier, the mobile phase composition, and temperature on the separations were investigated. Linear van't Hoff plots were observed in the studied temperature range, 280-318 K, and the changes in enthalpy, Delta(DeltaH(o)), entropy, Delta(DeltaS(o)), and free energy, Delta(DeltaG(o)) were calculated. The values of the thermodynamic parameters depended on the nature of the selectors, the structures of the analytes, and especially the positions of the substituents on the analytes. A comparison of the separation performances of the macrocyclic glycopeptide stationary phases revealed that the Chirobiotic TAG column exhibited much better selectivity for beta(2)-homoamino acids, while the separation of beta(3)-homoamino acid enantiomers was better on Chirobiotic T or T2. The elution sequence was determined in some cases and was observed to be R < S.

Elaborate treatment of retention in chemoselective chromatography--the retention increment approach and non-linear effects

The retention increment approach is described which quantifies the association equilibria of a selectand and a selector in complexation and inclusion chromatography. A thermodynamic treatment of enantioselectivity based on retention phenomena in chromatography including entropy/enthalpy compensation and the isoenantioselective temperature is advanced. Kinetic parameters of enantiomerization are discussed. Non-linear effects, both existent and elusive, are described and proposed, respectively. The enantioselectivity pertaining to catalysis vs. chromatography is compared and a unified nomenclature is proposed. Through an educational effort, this account is aimed at providing a deeper insight into chemoselective aspects of chromatography thereby stimulating further research of both established and speculative phenomena of the most intriguing manifestation of chemoselectivity, that is, of enantioselectivity.

Combining Synthetic and Analytical Strategies for Preparative HPLC Enantioseparation of Monastrol Racemic Mixture

Large-scale resolution of racemic monastrol has been carried out by normal-phase mode HPLC on an amylose-based chiral stationary phase. Because monastrol solubility, in media of proper compositions for normal-mode HPLC separations (in terms of retention factors and selectivity), was significantly low and impractical for preparative scopes, racemic monastrol was transformed into the corresponding O-tert-butyldimethylsilyl derivative. The tert-butyldimethylsilyl group was chosen as a suitable derivatizing agent because it induced approximatively a six-times higher solubility and allowed for an almost quantitative recovery of pure monastrol from the derivatization-deprotection sequence. The competitive isotherms of the O-tert-butyldimethylsilyl compounds, measured through frontal analysis, were fitted to competitive Langmuir and four-parameter bi-Langmuir models. The equilibrium dispersive model of chromatography was used for modeling the nonlinear separation of the racemate and to optimize the experimental conditions for collection of highly concentrated fractions of pure (R,S)-O-tert-butyldimethylsilyl compounds, from which significant amounts of the corresponding enantiomers of monastrol (about 100 mg of each enantiomer with 30 runs on an analytical-scale column) were obtained by quantitative back-derivatization.

Adsorption behavior of a teicoplanin aglycone bonded stationary phase under harsh overload conditions

Silica-bonded teicoplanin aglycone allows enantioseparation of amino acids by reversed-phase liquid chromatography with a low organic solvent content. However, a reversible change in the adsorption behavior leading to a retention time shift (RTS) was observed when a preparative scale column was treated with harsh preparative chromatography-like conditions between finite-injection HPLC runs conducted under exactly the same conditions. This behavior was observed for all five investigated aliphatic and aromatic amino acids. In all cases, the retention times were prolonged after the overload conditions and the RTS was more pronounced for the later eluting d-enantiomer. We defined a standardized method for measuring the RTS and performed a systematic investigation on the influence of experimental conditions (type and concentration of pH modifier and organic modifier, temperature, pH) on the RTS. In this way a solvent composition--90/10 50 mM NH4Ac pH 5.8/MeOH--was identified that yielded no observable shift in retention time after overload conditions for both enantiomers. In order to treat the observed phenomenon on a mechanistic level, we applied band profile analysis based on the stochastic theory of chromatography and identified two different enantioselective sites. When the band profile analysis was performed on elution profiles obtained from runs with prolonged retention time after harsh overload conditions, the retention time shift could be attributed to both differentiable types of adsorption sites. One site was found to make both, enantioselective and non-selective contributions.

Exploring the molecular basis of the enantioselective binding of penicillin G acylase towards a series of 2-aryloxyalkanoic acids: A docking and molecular dynamics study

In the present paper, molecular modeling studies were undertaken in order to shed light on the molecular basis of the observed enantioselectivity of penicillin G acylase (PGA), a well known enzyme for its industrial applications, towards 16 racemic 2-aryloxyalkanoic acids, which have been reported to affect several biological systems. With this intention docking calculations and MD simulations were performed. Docking results indicated that the (S)-enantiomers establish several electrostatic interactions with SerB1, SerB386 and ArgB263 of PGA. Conversely, the absence of specific polar interactions between the (R)-enantiomers and ArgB263 seems to be the main reason for the different binding affinities observed between the two enantiomers. Results of molecular dynamics simulations demonstrated that polar interactions are responsible for both the ligand affinity and PGA enantiospecificity. Modeling calculations provided possible explanations for the observed enantioselectivity of the enzyme that rationalize available experimental data and could be the basis for future protein engineering efforts.

Enantioseparation of phenylalanine analogs on a quinine-based anion-exchanger chiral stationary phase: Structure and temperature effects

Application of a cinchona alkaloid-based chiral anion-exchanger stationary phase for the direct high-performance liquid chromatographic enantioseparation of N-protected unusual phenylalanine analogs is reported. The N-benzyloxycarbonyl, N-3,5-dinitrobenzyloxycarbonyl, N-benzoyl and N-3,5-dinitrobenzoyl derivatives were well separable with high resolution. To achieve optimal separation of the enantiomers, the chromatographic conditions and temperature were varied. Linear van't Hoff plots were observed in the studied temperature range, 278-343 K, and the apparent changes in enthalpy, delta(deltaH degrees), entropy, delta(delta S degrees), and Gibbs free energy, delta(delta G degrees), were calculated. The values of the thermodynamic parameters depended on the nature of the N-acyl groups, on the structures of the compounds, and especially on the nature of the substituent on C3 of phenylalanine.

High-performance liquid chromatographic enantioseparation of α-substituted glycine analogs on a quinine-based anion-exchanger chiral stationary phase under variable temperature conditions

The retention of enantiomers of chiral analytes, i.e. alpha-substituted glycine analogs, on a quinine-based anion-exchanger chiral stationary phase was studied in the temperature range of 5-70 degrees C and at different mobile phase compositions, using isocratic elution in the reversed-phase mode. By variation of both mobile phase composition and temperature, baseline separations could be achieved for these enantiomers. Separation could be optimized more quickly by adjusting the column temperature rather than the mobile phase composition. The dependence of the natural logarithms of retention and selectivity factors (lnk' and lnalpha) on the inverse of temperature, 1/T (van't Hoff plots) was used to determine thermodynamic data on the enantiomers. Calculated thermodynamic constants (Delta(DeltaH degrees ), Delta(DeltaS degrees ) and Delta(DeltaG degrees )) were applied to promote an understanding of the thermodynamic driving forces for retention in this chromatographic system. The elution sequence of the enantiomers in most cases was determined.

The role of molecular interaction fields on enantioselective and nonselective separation of chiral sulfoxides

The separation of a series of 23 asymmetric sulfoxides, including the three proton pump inhibitors (PPI) omeprazole, lansoprazole and pantoprazole was investigated by HPLC, under reversed-phase elution with amylose tris(3,5-dimethylphenylcarbamate), amylose tris[(S)-1-phenylethylcarbamate] and amylose tris(3,5-dimethoxyphenylcarbamate) chiral stationary phases, CSP1-3, respectively. The whole set of sulfoxides showed better enantioselectivity and enantioresolution on CSP1. However, the three PPI were enantioseparated only when using CSP1 and CSP3. It was observed an improved enantioselectivity and enantioresolution on CSP3. The mechanisms of retention were evaluated by molecular interaction fields (MIF) generated via GRID force field, which yielded the geometric reasons leading to the scenario outlined. The enantioselective and nonselective interactions are discussed in terms of the reported selectivity. The steric structural outline of the CSP nonselective interaction sites is of major importance to deliver the sulfoxides to the chiral selective sites where the enantioselective interactions take place.

Theoretical investigations of the chromatographic separation of interacting enantiomers

Separation of a pair of enantiomers by liquid chromatography is modeled using the equilibrium dispersive (ED) model of chromatography. It is assumed that the chiral stationary phase used for the separation consists of two types of adsorption sites, including chiral selectors linked to the surface and nonselective centers belonging to the achiral matrix. Additionally, intermolecular interactions between adsorbed enantiomers are taken into account. The corresponding equilibrium adsorption isotherms of the enantiomers are derived by means of the mean field approximation (MFA) and used as input data for the ED model. Special attention is paid to the influence of the lateral interactions on the effectiveness of the enantiomer separation. In particular, we examine the effect of the interactions on the shape and relative position of the chromatographic peaks associated with the enantiomers. Furthermore, the influence of the spacer length, which modifies screening of the lateral interactions, on the adsorption process is studied. The obtained results suggest that the lateral interactions combined with the screening effect may cause serious changes in the separation, depending on the nature (attraction or repulsion) and strength of the interactions as well as on the spacer length.