Reversed retention order and other stereoselective effects in the separation of amino alcohols on Chiralcel OD

Chiral liquid chromatography contribution to the determination of the absolute configuration of enantiomers

The review covers examples in which chiral HPLC, as a source of pure enantiomers, has been combined with classical methods (X-ray, vibrational circular dichroism (VCD), enzymatic resolutions, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) techniques, optical rotation, circular dichroism (CD)) for the on- or off-line determination of absolute configuration of enantiomers. Furthermore, it is outlined that chiral HPLC, which associates enantioseparation process and classical purification process, opens new perspectives in the classical determination of absolute configuration by chemical correlation or chemical interconversion methods. The review also contains a discussion about the various approaches to predict the absolute configuration from the retention behavior of the enantiomers on chiral stationary phases (CSPs). Some examples illustrate the advantages and limitations of molecular modeling methods and the use of chiral recognition models. The assumptions underlying some of these methods are critically analyzed and some possible emerging new strategies are outlined.

Effects of alcohol mobile-phase modifiers on the structure and chiral selectivity of amylose tris(3,5-dimethylphenylcarbamate) chiral stationary phase

Following a previous publication, the present paper reports additional results on the effects of alcohol mobile-phase modifiers on the structure and chiral selectivity of amylose tris(3,5-dimethylphenylcarbamate) (Chiralpak AD) chiral stationary phase (CSP). Solid-state NMR (1H/13C CPMAS) was utilized to identify and compare structural differences in Chiralpak AD caused by the various alcohol mobile-phase modifiers, many of which were not studied in the previous publication. The influences of the various alcohol modifiers (in hexane-based mobile phase) on the structure and chiral selectivity of the CSP were studied and compared. CPMAS spectra of Chiralpak AD flushed with the mobile phases displayed clear evidence of solvent incorporation into the CSP. When alcohol modifiers with varying size and bulkiness were used in the mobile phase, differences in structure and chiral selectivity were observed on Chiralpak AD based on solid-state NMR and chromatographic data. The change of t-butanol concentration in the t-butanol/hexane mobile phase caused changes of structure and chiral selectivity of the Chiralpak AD. These data further support our belief that the different chiral selectivities of the CSP associated with the use of different alcohol modifiers are due to different alterations of the steric environment of the chiral cavities in the CSP by the different mobile-phase modifiers.

Effect of temperature on the reversal in the retention order of the enantiomers of mosapride on Chiral-AGP

The retention order of the enantiomers of mosapride could be controlled by column temperature and mobile phase pH. In the presented paper, temperature studies have been used to study the thermodynamics of the reversal in retention order. A linear relationship was obtained plotting the logarithm of the capacity factor versus the inverted column temperature. However, at higher mobile phase pHs, the logarithm of the separation factor versus the inverted column temperature showed a non-linear behaviour and at the highest mobile phase pH used (pH=7.4), an optimum in the separation factor was observed. The plots showed that the thermodynamics for the two enantiomers of mosapride differ in the studied mobile phase pH interval. Thermodynamic values, enthalpy and entropy were calculated and showed that at a low mobile phase pH, the enantiomeric resolution was caused by differences in enthalpy between the two enantiomers. However, at a higher mobile phase pH, the chiral discrimination was a result of entropy effects. High correlation was obtained between experimental and predicted separation factors at different mobile phase pHs.

Unusual effect of column temperature on chromatographic enantioseparation of dihydropyrimidinone acid and methyl ester on amylose chiral stationary phase

This paper reports an unusual effect of column temperature on the separation of the enantiomers of dihydropyrimidinone (DHP) acid and its methyl ester on a derivatized amylose stationary phase by normal-phase liquid chromatography. The separation of the DHP acid enantiomers was investigated using both carbamate-derivatized amylose and cellulose stationary phases (Chiralpak AD and Chiralcel OD) with an ethanol-n-hexane (EtOH-n-Hex) mobile phase. On the amylose phase, the van 't Hoff plot of the retention factor of the S-(+)-DHP acid was observed to be non-linear while that of R-(-)-DHP acid was linear. Likewise, the van 't Hoff plot for DHP acid enantioselectivity was non-linear with a transition occurring at approximately 30 degrees C. Furthermore, the van 't Hoff plot for the DHP acid enantioselectivity factor for data taken when heating the column from 5 to 50 degrees C was not superimposable with the same plot prepared with data from the cooling process from 50 to 5 degrees C. This observation suggested that the stationary phase was undergoing a thermally induced irreversible conformational change that altered the separation mechanism between the heating and cooling cycles. Similar phenomena were observed for the separation of the enantiomers of the DHP ester probe compound. The conformational change of the AD phase was shown to depend on the polar component of the mobile phase. When 2-propanol (2-PrOH) was used as the modifier instead of EtOH, the van 't Hoff plots for DHP acid were linear and thermally reversible, suggesting that no such irreversible conformational change occurs with this modifier. Conversely, when the AD phase was pre-conditioned with a more polar methanol (MeOH) or water containing mobile phase, thermal irreversibility of DHP acid enantioselectivity was once again observed. Interestingly, when the stationary phase was changed to its cellulose analogue, the Chiralcel OD, all van 't Hoff plots for the retention and selectivity of DHP acid were thermally reversible for both EtOH-n-Hex and 2-PrOH-n-Hex mobile phases.

Reversal of elution order during the chiral separation in high performance liquid chromatography

The elution order of the enantiomers is one of the most important topics in the field of chiral separations. The reversal of enantiomeric elution order, although rare, could be observed during the investigations of chiral discrimination in high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Scrutinizing these phenomena must be helpful in determining the optical purities because it is favorable to elute the minor enantiomeric impurity before the major component. In this mini-review, several examples of such unusual behavior will be described from the point of mechanistic rationale.

Enantioseparation of selected chiral sulfoxides using polysaccharide-type chiral stationary phases and polar organic, polar aqueous-organic and normal-phase eluents

HPLC enantioseparation of selected chiral sulfoxides was studied using cellulose and amylose phenylcarbamate derivatives as chiral stationary phases (CSPs). The contributions of various functional groups of a chiral analyte as well as the polysaccharide derivatives in the analyte retention and chiral recognition were evaluated. A very high enantioseparation factor exceeding 110 was observed in the enantioseparation of 2-(benzylsulfinyl)benzamide (BSBA) on cellulose tris(3,5-dichlorophenylcarbamate) (CDCPC) CSP by using 2-propanol as a mobile phase. The enantiomer elution order was opposite on cellulose and amylose phenylcarbamates. For the polysaccharide-type CSPs, pure alcohols such as methanol, ethanol and 2-propanol represent a valuable alternative to more common alcohol-hydrocarbon and reversed-phase eluents.

A thermodynamic study of the temperature-dependent elution order of cyclic alpha-amino acid enantiomers on a copper(II)-D-penicillamine chiral stationary phase

The reversal of the elution order of cyclic alpha-amino acid enantiomers as a function of the temperature on a copper(II)-N,S-dioctyl-D-penicillamine ligand-exchange column is described. The thermodynamic parameters accounting for the retention and the separation of analytes were determined by means of van't Hoff plots. The influence of different chromatographic conditions on these parameters was investigated, showing little effect of the Cu(II) concentration in the eluent but strong influence of the organic modifier content on the separation. Further, the pH of the mobile phase was found to be a determining factor for the retention of the analytes. Based on these findings, a separation mechanism is postulated comprising the importance of complex formation for primary docking at the stationary phase, while hydrophobic interactions are crucial for chiral discrimination.

Reviewing mobile phases used on Chiralcel OD through an application of data mining tools to CHIRBASE database

During the past decade, thousands of compounds have been resolved on Chiralcel OD (a cellulose-based chiral stationary phase) under diverse eluting conditions. Many researches have documented the effects of mobile phase on enantioselectivity for a given family of samples but today no comprehensive study aimed at identifying the associations between the structural features present on solute and appropriate mobile phase conditions has yet been proposed. In this review of mobile phases used on Chiralcel OD, we try to go far beyond a simple enumeration of eluting conditions and an effort is made to explore the utility of data mining tools for assessing the knowledge contained in CHIRBASE database. We have extracted from CHIRBASE the chemical features of 2363 chiral compounds separated on Chiralcel OD and their corresponding mobile phases. This data set was submitted to data mining programs for molecular pattern recognition and mobile phase predictions for new cases. Some substructural characteristics of solutes were related to the efficient use of some specific mobile phases. For example, the application of CH3CN/salt buffer at pH 6-7 was found convenient for reversed-phase separation of compounds bearing a tertiary amine functional group. Furthermore, a cluster analysis allowed the arrangement of the mobile phases according to similarity found in molecular patterns of solutes. A decision tree, which may lead to a more rational choice of the mobile phase under reversed-phase conditions, is also proposed.

Unusual effects of separation conditions on chiral separations

Unusual effects in liquid chromatographic separations of enantiomers on chiral stationary phases are reviewed with emphasis on polysaccharide phases. On protein phases and Pirkle phases reversal of the elution order between enantiomers due to variation of temperature and mobile phase composition has been reported. Most of the nonanticipated observations have dealt with the widely used polysaccharide phases. Reversed retention order and other stereoselective effects have been observed by variation of temperature, organic modifier and water content in nonpolar organic mobile phases.

Enantiomeric and diastereomeric high-performance liquid chromatographic separation of cyclic beta-substituted alpha-amino acids on a copper(II)-D-penicillamine chiral stationary phase

High-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) separation of stereoisomeric cyclic beta-substituted alpha-quaternary alpha-amino acids was performed by ligand-exchange on a copper(II)-D-penicillamine chiral stationary phase. The investigated amino acids are the 1-amino-2-methylcyclohexanecarboxylic acids, the 1-amino-2-hydroxycyclohexanecarboxylic acids, the 1-amino-2-methylcyclopentanecarboxylic acids and the trans-configured 1,2-diaminocyclohexanecarboxylic acids. The effects of the mobile phase composition (copper(II) concentration, type and content of organic modifier, pH) and the temperature on the enantio- and diastereoselectivity were studied and the conditions were optimised to resolve the four stereoisomers of each of the said amino acids in single chromatographic runs. A reversal of the elution order occurred for enantiomers of some of the amino acids in dependence on the acetonitrile content of the eluent. This phenomenon is explained by at least two different copper(II) complexes of the tridentate ligand penicillamine.

Enantiomeric separation of amino alcohols on protein phases using statistical experimental design. A comparative study

Two LC supports often used for giving enantioselective retention were tested and compared in the reversed-phase mode using statistical experimental design. The two supports contain two different proteins, alpha1-acid glycoprotein or cellulase immobilised to silica particles, as the chiral selectors. The two chromatographic columns are commercially available as Chiral-AGP and Chiral-CBH. Twelve closely structurally related amino alcohols were used as the testing solutes. For each column three important mobile phase descriptors, that improve the chiral recognition, were chosen as variables and retention and separation factors were used as responses. All the tested solutes were separated using the two protein based supports. However, the highest enantioselectivities, i.e., separation factors higher than 10 were obtained using the Chiral-CBH column. The solute structure, e.g., distance between the nitrogen atom and the chiral carbon atom, and position as well as type of substituent in the aromatic ring highly influence the enantioselectivity on both columns. For one of the solutes the choice of mobile phase composition could be used to control the retention order of the two enantiomers.

Chiral purity test of metoprolol enantiomer after derivatization with (-)-menthyl chloroformate by reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography

A reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatographic method was developed to determine the optical purity of metoprolol enantiomers. The enantiomers were converted to diastereomeric derivatives using (-)-menthyl chloroformate reagent. Separation of the enantiomers as diastereomers was achieved by reversed-phase HPLC within 30 min using Inertsil C8 column. This method allowed determination of 0.05% of either enantiomer in the presence of its stereoisomer and method validation showed adequate linearity over the required range. Owing to the reaction condition during the derivatization with (-)-menthyl chloroformate, the possibility of racemization had to be established. Different ratios of (S)-(-)-metoprolol and (R)-(+)-metoprolol were prepared. Enantiomeric separation of these mixtures took place on a chiralcel OD column or, after derivatization with (-)-menthyl chloroformate, on a C8 column. The results from the these two independent separation systems were compared with trace racemization and were in very good agreement. No racemization was found during the experiment.

Temperature-induced inversion of elution order in the enantioseparation of sotalol on a cellobiohydrolase I-based stationary phase

The effect of temperature on the resolution of (RS)-sotalol by immobilized cellobiohydrolase I (CBH I) was studied between 5 and 40 degrees C and Van 't Hoff plots of ln k versus 1/T were acquired at different pH values of the aqueous mobile phase and in the presence of varying organic cosolvents. The elution order of the enantiomers reverses in the range between 17 and 28 degrees C. Beyond this range, enantioseparations with comparatively high resolution factors are achieved either by decreasing or by increasing the temperature. The composition of the mobile phase influences the "crossover" temperature as well as the character of the global adsorption process of the (R)-(-)-enantiomer. Under certain conditions, (R)-(-)-sotalol exhibits an unusual endothermic adsorption behavior. Its retention time increases with increasing temperature. At room temperature (23 degrees C) the enantiomeric elution order can also be regulated by the solvent additive.

Application and comparison of derivatized cellulose and amylose chiral stationary phases for the separation of enantiomers of pharmaceutical compounds by high-performance liquid chromatography

The direct high-performance liquid chromatographic separation of three pairs of structurally related enantiomers on derivatized cellulose and amylose chiral stationary phases (Chiralcel OD, Chiralpak AD and Chiralpak AS) was studied using hexane as the mobile phase with 2-propanol or ethanol as modifiers. The separation, retention and elution order of the enantiomers on the different columns using different alcohol modifiers were compared. The effect of structural variation of the solutes on their k' was noted. A reversal of elution order of one enantiomeric pair upon changing the mobile-phase modifier was observed. Chiralcel OD and Chiralpak AD columns provided different elution orders of the enantiomers, including a fourth pair of enantiomers that were not structurally related to the other three pairs.

High performance liquid chromatography enantioseparation of chiral pharmaceuticals using tris(chloro-methylphenylcarbamate)s of cellulose

Chiral recognition abilities of a recently developed new type of cellulose phenylcarbamates were studied. These chiral stationary phases (CSPs) simultaneously contain both electron-withdrawing (Cl) and electron-donating (CH3) substituents on the phenyl moiety. Chiral pharmaceuticals which belong to the various pharmacological groups (sedatives, hypnotics, anticonvulsants, Ca2+ channel blockers, beta-blockers, antitusives, antihystaminics, choleretics, diuretics, antimycotics, etc) were resolved to enantiomers. These new CSPs sometimes exhibit alternative chiral recognition ability to that most successful commercially available cellulosic CSP Chiralcel-OD and can be used as a good complement to it in analytical and preparative scale enantioseparations.

Determination of the enantiomers of citalopram, its demethylated and propionic acid metabolites in human plasma by chiral HPLC

A stereoselective HPLC assay has been developed to analyze the enantiomers of citalopram and of its three main metabolites in plasma after their separation on a Chiracel OD column. Using a fluorescence detector, the limit of quantification in plasma samples was 15, 4, 5 and 2 ng/ml for the enantiomers of citalopram (CIT), desmethylcitalopram (DCIT), didesmethylcitalopram (DDCIT), and for the citalopram propionic acid derivative (CIT-PROP), respectively. Except for CIT, all metabolites were derivatized with achiral reagents. Identification of the enantiomers was realized with an optical rotation detector which showed that the enantiomers invert their rotation depending on the polarity and nature of the solvent. Under varying conditions, a racemization study has shown that the pure enantiomers of CIT and its demethylated metabolites are configurationally stable. Preliminary results obtained with five patients treated with CIT show a mean S/R ratio of 0.7 for both CIT and its active metabolite DCIT and of 3.6 for CIT-PROP in plasma. This suggests that the pharmacologically relevant (+)-(S)-isomers of CIT and DCIT could be preferentially and stereoselectively metabolized to CIT-PROP.