Novel ethylenediamine-ß-cyclodextrin grafted membranes for the chiral separation of mandelic acid and its derivatives.

In the present study, flat cellulose acetate ultrafiltration membranes were prepared first by nonsolvent induced phase separation method. Then chiral membranes for separating the enantiomers were prepared by grafting the ultrafiltration membranes using ethylenediamine-ß-cyclodextrin as the chiral selector and epichlorohydrin as the spacer arm. The pure water permeability of the ultrafiltration membrane was around 115 L·m-2·h-1·bar-1. The properties of the chiral membranes were characterized using infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The chiral membrane performance in enantiomer separation was evaluated with racemates, such as mandelic acid (MA), 2-chloromandelic acid (2-ClMA), 4-chloromandelic acid (4-ClMA), and methyl mandelate (MM). The influence of feed concentration on the separation efficiency was also investigated. The results indicated that the enantiomeric excess percentages (e.e%) of the racemic mixtures for these four chiral compounds were up to 31.8%, 25.4%, 17.8%, and 32.6%, respectively. The binding free energy of the chiral selector with the (S)-enantiomer calculated by molecular dynamics simulations was stronger than that with the (R)-enantiomer, which was consistent with the experimental results (higher concentration of (R)-enantiomer in the permeate). This supports the affinity absorption-separation mechanism.

Resolution of Halogenated Mandelic Acids through Enantiospecific Co-Crystallization with Levetiracetam.

The resolution of halogenated mandelic acids using levetiracetam (LEV) as a resolving agent via forming enantiospecific co-crystal was presented. Five halogenated mandelic acids, 2-chloromandelic acid (2-ClMA), 3-chloromandelic acid (3-ClMA), 4-chloromandelic acid (4-ClMA), 4-bromomandelic acid (4-BrMA), and 4-fluoromandelic acid (4-FMA), were selected as racemic compounds. The effects of the equilibrium time, molar ratio of the resolving agent to racemate, amount of solvent, and crystallization temperature on resolution performance were investigated. Under the optimal conditions, the resolution efficiency reached up to 94% and the enantiomeric excess (%e.e.) of (R)-3-chloromandelic acid was 63%e.e. All five halogenated mandelic acids of interest in this study can be successfully separated by LEV via forming enantiospecific co-crystal, but the resolution performance is significantly different. The results showed that LEV selectively co-crystallized with S enantiomers of 2-ClMA, 3-ClMA, 4-ClMA, and 4-BrMA, while it co-crystallized with R enantiomers of 4-FMA. This indicates that the position and type of substituents of racemic compounds not only affect the co-crystal configuration, but also greatly affect the efficiency of co-crystal resolution.

Diastereomeric resolution of 3-chloromandelic acid with threo-(1S,2S)-2-amino-l-p-nitrophenyl-1,3-propanediol.

An optical resolution of 3-chloromandelic acid (3-ClMA) using threo-(1S,2S)-2-amino-l-p-nitrophenyl-1,3-propanediol ([S,S]-SA) as a resolving agent was presented. The effects of the type of solvents, the amount of solvent, molar ratio of the resolving agent to racemate and filtration temperature on resolution were investigated. Under the optimal resolution conditions, the content of less soluble salt reached 98%, and the resolution efficiency was as high as 94%. The weak intermolecular interactions (such as hydrogen bond, halogen bond, CH/π and van der Waals interactions) and molecular packing mode in crystal structure of the less soluble salt (R)-3-ClMA(S,S)-SA were investigated. A wall-like 2-D hydrogen-bonding network and hydrophobic structure between hydrogen-bonding walls were revealed. (S,S)-SA was also used to resolve 2-ClMA and 4-ClMA respectively and the corresponding less soluble salts (R)-2-ClMA·(R,R)-SA and (R)-4-ClMA·(R,R)-SA were obtained using threo-(1R,2R)-2-amino-l-p-nitrophenyl-1,3-propanediol ((R,R)-SA) as a resolving agent. In addition, two other resolving agents, (R)-ɑ-phenethylamine ((R)-PEA) and (R)-N-benzyl phenethylamine ((R)-BPA) reported in the literature for the resolution of 3-ClMA were examined along with the newly proposed resolving agent, (S,S)-SA. The crystal structures of the resulting less soluble salts (R)-3-ClMA·(S,S)-SA, (R)-3-ClMA·(R)-PEA and (R)-3-ClMA·(R)-BPA were compared and examined.

Improved Resolution of 4-Chloromandelic Acid and the Effect of Chlorine Interactions Using (R)-(+)-Benzyl-1-Phenylethylamine as a Resolving Agent.

In order to avoid the disadvantage of commonly used resolving agent 1-phenylethylamine (hereafter: PEA), which is soluble in water, (R)-(+)-benzyl-1-phenylethylamine ((R)-(+)-BPA) was used to resolve 4-chloromandelic acid (4-ClMA) in this study. The optimal resolution conditions were determined: absolute ethanol as a solvent, the molar ratio of 4-ClMA to (R)-(+)-BPA as 1:1, the filtration temperature as 15 °C, and the amount of solvent as 1.6 mL/1 mmol 4-ClMA. Thermophysical properties, such as melting point, heat of fusion, and solubility, exhibited significant differences between the less and more soluble salts. The single crystals for the pair of diastereomeric salts were cultivated and their crystal structures were examined thoroughly. In addition to commonly observed interactions like hydrogen bonding and CH/π interactions. The chlorine…chlorine interaction was observed in the less soluble salt presenting as Cl…Cl between adjacent hydrogen network columns, while the Cl/π interaction was observed in the more soluble salt. It was found that halogen interactions played an important role in chiral recognition of 4-ClMA by (R)-(+)-BPA.

Enantioselective resolution of 4-chloromandelic acid by liquid-liquid extraction using 2-chloro-N-carbobenzyloxy-L-amino acid.

A liquid-liquid extraction resolution of 4-chloro-mandelic acid (4-ClMA) was studied by using 2-chloro-N-carbobenzyloxy-L-amino acid (2-Cl-Z-AA) as a chiral extractant. Important factors affecting the extraction efficiency were investigated, including the type of chiral extractant, pH value of aqueous phase, initial concentration of chiral extractant in organic phase, initial concentration of 4-ClMA in aqueous phase, and resolution temperature. It was observed that the concentration of (R)-4-ClMA was much higher than that of (S)-4-ClMA in organic phase due to a higher stability of the complex formed between (R)-4-ClMA and 2-Cl-Z-AA. A separation factor (α) of 3.05 was obtained at 0.02 mol/L 2-Cl-Z-Valine dissolved in dichloromethane, pH of 2.0, concentration of 4-ClMA of 0.11 mmol/Land T of 296.7K.

Enantioseparation of Citalopram by RP-HPLC, Using Sulfobutyl Ether-ß-Cyclodextrin as a Chiral Mobile Phase Additive.

Enantiomeric separation of citalopram (CIT) was developed using a reversed phase HPLC (RP-HPLC) with sulfobutylether-ß-cyclodextrin (SBE-ß-CD) as a chiral mobile phase additive. The effects of the pH value of aqueous buffer, concentration of chiral additive, composition of mobile phase, and column temperature on the enantioseparation of CIT were investigated on the Hedera ODS-2 C18 column (250 mm × 4.6 mm × 5.0 um). A satisfactory resolution was achieved at 25°C using a mobile phase consisting of a mixture of aqueous buffer (pH of 2.5, 5 mM sodium dihydrogen phosphate, and 12 mM SBE-ß-CD), methanol, and acetonitrile with a volumetric ratio of 21 : 3 : 1 and flow rate of 1.0 mL/min. This analytical method was evaluated by examining the precision (lower than 3.0%), linearity (regression coefficients close to 1), limit of detection (0.070 µg/mL for (R)-CIT and 0.076 µg/mL for (S)-CIT), and limit of quantitation (0.235 µg/mL for (R)-CIT and 0.254 µg/mL for (S)-CIT).

Enantioselective liquid-liquid extraction of zopiclone with mandelic acid ester derivatives.

Enantioselective liquid-liquid extraction of zopiclone was conducted by employing a series of (R)-mandelic acid esters as chiral extractants. The effects of concentration of extractant, concentration of zopiclone, type of organic solvent, pH value, and temperature on the extraction efficiency were investigated. (R)-o-chloromandelic acid propyl ester was demonstrated to be an efficient chiral extractant for zopiclone resolution with a maximum enantioselectivity of 1.6.

Resolution of 2-chloromandelic acid with (R)-(+)-N-benzyl-1-phenylethylamine: chiral discrimination mechanism.

During the resolution of 2-chloromandelic acid with (R)-(+)-N-benzyl-1-phenylethylamine, the crystals of the less soluble salt were grown, and their structure were determined and presented. The chiral discrimination mechanism was investigated by examining the weak intermolecular interactions (such as hydrogen bond, CH/π, and van der Waals interactions) and molecular packing mode in crystal structure of the less soluble diastereomeric salt. A one-dimensional double-chain hydrogen-bonding network and a "lock-and-key" supramolecular packing mode are disclosed. The investigation demonstrates that hydrophobic layers with corrugated surfaces can fit into the grooves of one another to realize a compact packing, when the molecular structure of resolving agent is much larger than that of the racemate. This "lock-and-key" assembly is recognized to be another characteristic of molecular packing contributing to the chiral discrimination, in addition to the well-known sandwich-like packing by hydrophobic layers with planar boundary surfaces.

Diastereomeric resolution of p-chloromandelic acid with (R)-phenylethylamine.

The optical resolution of p-chloromandelic acid using (R)-alpha-phenylethylamine as resolving agent was presented. The effect of solvents, molar ratio of racemate to the resolving agent, filtration temperature as well as the amount of solvent on resolution was investigated by orthogonal experimentation. The binary melting point phase diagram and crystal structure analysis of diastereomeric salts rationalized the success of the resolution.