Immobilized Cellulose-Based Chiralpak IC Chiral Stationary Phase for Enantioseparation of Eight Imidazole Antifungal Drugs in Normal-Phase, Polar Organic Phase and Reversed-Phase Conditions Using High-Performance Liquid Chromatography

HPLC with chiral stationary phase for separation and kinetics study of aspartic acid epimerization in Peroxiredoxin 2 active site peptide

Amino acid epimerization, a process of converting L-amino acids to D-amino acids, will lead to modification in the protein structure and, subsequently, its biological function. This modification causes no change in protein m/z and may be overlooked during protein analysis. Aspartic Acid Epimerization (AAE) is faster than other amino acids and could be accelerated by free radicals and peroxides. In this work, a novel and site-specific HPLC method using a chiral stationary phase for determining the AAE in the active site model peptide (AP) of Peroxiredoxin 2 has been developed and validated. The developed method showed good linearity (1 - 200 μg/mL) and recoveries of the limit of quantification (LOQ), low, medium, and high concentrations were between 85% and 115%. The Kinetics of AAE in AP were studied using the developed method, and the results showed that when ascorbic acid and Cu2+ coexisted, the AP epimerized rapidly. The AAE extent increased with time and was positively correlated with hydrogen peroxide generation.

Tetra-azolium Salts Induce Significant Cytotoxicity in Human Colon Cancer Cells In vitro

BACKGROUND

Azolium salts are the organic salts used as stable precursors for generating N-Heterocyclic Carbenes and their metal complexes. Azolium salts have also been reported to have significant biological potential. Hence, in the current study, four tetra-dentate azolium salts were derived from bis-azolium salts by a new synthetic strategy.

METHODS

The tetra azolium salts have been synthesized by reacting the imidazole or methyl imidazole with dibromo xylene (meta, para)/ 1-bromo methyl imidazole or dibromo ethane resulting in the mono or bis azolium salts namely I-IV. V-VII have been obtained by reacting I with II-IV, resulting in the tetra azolium salts. Each product was analyzed by various analytical techniques, i.e., microanalysis, FT-IR, and NMR (1H & 13C). Salts V-VII were evaluated for their antiproliferative effect against human colon cancer cells (HCT-116) using MTT assay.

RESULTS

Four chemical shifts for acidic protons between 8.5-9.5 δ ppm in 1H NMR and resonance of respective carbons around 136-146 δ ppm in 13C NMR indicated the successful synthesis of tetra azolium salts. Salt V showed the highest IC50 value, 24.8 μM among all synthesized compounds.

CONCLUSION

Tetra-azolium salts may play a better cytotoxicity effect compared to mono-, bi-& tri-azolium salts.

Hansen Solubility Parameters and QbD-Oriented HPLC Method Development and Validation for Dermatokinetic Study of a Miconazole-Loaded Cationic Nanoemulsion in Rat Model

Miconazole (MCZ) is a potential antifungal drug to treat skin infections caused by Candida, Tinea pedis (athlete's foot fungal infection), Tinea cruris (jock itching in the groin and buttocks), and Tinea corporis (red scaly rash on the skin). The current study focused on Hansen parameter-based solvent selection (HSPiP software) and method development optimization using an experimental design tool for sensitive, accurate, reproducible, economic, rapid, robust, and precise methodology to quantify MCZ in rat plasma. Moreover, a Taguchi design was used for screening two independent factors (flow rate and ACN content). Quality by design (QbD) was employed to optimize and identify the right ratio of mobile phase composition and its impact on the peak and retention time. The elution of MCZ was achieved using methanol and acetonitrile (15:85 v/v ratio) at a retention time of 6 min and optimal flow rate (1 mL/min). Finally, the method was validated based on accuracy, precision, linearity, selectiveness, and high recovery at varied concentrations as per the International Council for Harmonization (ICH) guidelines. The method was linear (r2 = 0.999) over the explored concentration range (250-2000 ng/mL) at 270 nm detection wavelength. The optimized method was used to quantify in vivo pharmacokinetic (PK) study after transdermal application of MCZ-loaded formulations (MCNE11, MNE11, MCZ-Sol, and MCZ-MKT). HSP-oriented solvent selection and quality by design-based optimized process variables and composition in the optimized analytical methodology were quite convincing and have been a cutting-edge MCZ analysis method so far. The validated method was robust, economic, and rapid with high specificity and selectivity.

Study of Different Chiral Columns for the Enantiomeric Separation of Azoles Using Supercritical Fluid Chromatography

The enantiomeric separation of antifungal compounds is an arduous task in pharmaceutical and biomedical fields due to the different properties that each diastereoisomer presents. The enantioseparation of a group of fungicides (sulconazole, bifonazole, triadimefon and triadimenol) using supercritical fluid chromatography was achieved in this work. For this goal, four different chiral columns based on polysaccharide derivatives, as well as the effect of different chromatographic parameters such as temperature, type and percentage of organic modifier (methanol, ethanol and isopropanol), were thoroughly investigated. The inversion of the elution order of enantiomers as a result of a change in the stationary phase or organic modifier was also evaluated by employing a circular dichroism detector. The best separation conditions, in terms of the enantioresolution and analysis time, were obtained with the Lux® Cellulose-2 column using isopropanol as the organic modifier.

Chiral Nano-Liquid Chromatography and Dispersive Liquid-Liquid Microextraction Applied to the Analysis of Antifungal Drugs in Milk

A novel chromatographic application in chiral separation by using the nano-LC technique is here reported. The chiral recognition of 12 antifungal drugs was obtained through a 75 µm I.D. fused-silica capillary, which was packed with a CSP-cellulose 3,5-dichlorophenylcarbamate (CDCPC), by means of a lab-made slurry packing procedure. The mobile phase composition and the experimental conditions were optimized in order to find the optimum chiral separation for some selected racemic mixtures of imidazole and triazole derivatives. Some important parameters, such as retention faction, enantioresolution, peak efficiency, and peak shape, were investigated as a function of the mobile phase (pH, water content, type and concentration of both the buffer and the organic modifier, and solvent dilution composition). Within one run lasting 25 min, at a flow rate of approximately 400 nL min^-1, eight couples of enantiomers were baseline-resolved and four of them were separated in less than 25 min. The method was then applied to milk samples, which were pretreated using a classical dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction technique preceded by protein precipitation. Finally, the DLLME-nano-LC-UV method was validated in a matrix following the main FDA guidelines for bioanalytical methods.

Discrimination of enantiomers of amides with two stereogenic centers enabled by chiral bisthiourea derivatives using 1H NMR spectroscopy

Enantiomers of a few new amides containing two stereogenic centers have been derived from d- and l-α-amino acids as guests for chiral recognition by 1H NMR spectroscopy. A variety of chiral amides with two or more stereogenic centers often exist in the products of catalytic asymmetric synthesis, natural products or their total synthetic products, and chiral drugs. It would be a challenging and meaningful work to explore their chiral recognition. For this purpose, a class of novel chiral bisthiourea derivatives 1-9 has been synthesized from (1S,2S)-(+)-1,2-diaminocyclohexane, d-α-amino acids, and isothiocyanates as chiral solvating agents (CSAs). CSAs 1-9 proved to afford better chiral discriminating results towards most amides with two stereogenic centers, which have been rarely studied as chiral substrates by 1H NMR spectroscopy. In particular, CSAs 7, 8 and 9, featuring 3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)benzene residues, exhibit outstanding chiral discriminating capabilities towards all amides, providing well-separated 1H NMR signals and sufficiently large nonequivalent chemical shifts. To test their practical application in the determination of enantiomeric excess, 1H NMR spectra of chiral amides (G16) with different optical purities were measured in the presence of CSAs 7 and 8, respectively. Their ee values (up to 90%) were accurately calculated by the integration of the NH proton of the CONHPh group of G16. To better understand the chiral discriminating behavior, Job plots of (±)-G16 with CSA 7 and (±)-G17 with CSA 8 and the association constants (Ka) of (S,R)-G16 and (R,S)-G16 with CSA 7 were evaluated, respectively. In order to further reveal any underlying intermolecular hydrogen bonding interactions, theoretical calculations of the enantiomers of (S,R)-G16 and (R,S)-G16 with CSA 7 were performed by means of the hybrid density functional theory (B3LYP) with the standard basis sets of 3-21G of the Gaussian 03 program, respectively.

Polysaccharide- and β-Cyclodextrin-Based Chiral Selectors for Enantiomer Resolution: Recent Developments and Applications

Polysaccharides, oligosaccharides, and their derivatives, particularly of amylose, cellulose, chitosan, and β-cyclodextrin, are well-known chiral selectors (CSs) of chiral stationary phases (CSPs) in chromatography, because they can separate a wide range of enantiomers. Typically, such CSPs are prepared by physically coating, or chemically immobilizing the polysaccharide and β-cyclodextrin derivatives onto inert silica gel carriers as chromatographic support. Over the past few years, new chiral selectors have been introduced, and progressive methods to prepare CSPs have been exploited. Also, chiral recognition mechanisms, which play a crucial role in the investigation of chiral separations, have been better elucidated. Further insights into the broad functional performance of commercially available chiral column materials and/or the respective newly developed chiral phase materials on enantiomeric separation (ES) have been gained. This review summarizes the recent developments in CSs, CSP preparation, chiral recognition mechanisms, and enantiomeric separation methods, based on polysaccharides and β-cyclodextrins as CSs, with a focus on the years 2019-2020 of this rapidly developing field.

Synthesis and Chiral Separation of Some 4-thioflavones

A thionation reaction was performed on some chiral flavanones using Lawesson's reagent (LR) and leads to the formation of new chiral thiocarbonyl flavanes. LR in this thionation reaction with Hesperetin and Naringenin gives new flavan-4-thiones with yields ranged between 41 and 52%. Based on the Wittig reaction principle, LR is currently the most widely used reagent for this type of reaction. Enantiomeric separation by high-performance liquid chromatography methods was then set-up using three different polysaccharide-based chiral stationary phases (CSPs). Chiral separations were successfully accomplished with high resolution (1.22 ≤ Rs ≤ 5.23). The chiral discrimination mechanism(s) between the analytes under study, mobile phase, and the CSPs were discussed.

Enantiomeric determination of econazole and sulconazole by electrokinetic chromatography using hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin combined with ionic liquids based on L-lysine and L-glutamic acid

Two analytical methodologies based on the combined use of hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin and two different amino acid-based chiral ionic liquids (tetrabutylammonium-L-lysine or tetrabutylammonium-L-glutamic acid) in electrokinetic chromatography were developed in this work to perform the enantioselective determination of econazole and sulconazole in pharmaceutical formulations. The influence of different experimental variables such as buffer concentration, applied voltage, nature and concentration of the ionic liquid, temperature and injection time, on the enantiomeric separation was investigated. The combination of hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin and tetrabutylammonium-L-lysine under the optimized conditions enabled to achieve the enantiomeric determination of both drugs with high enantiomeric resolution (3.5 for econazole and 2.4 for sulconazole). The analytical characteristics of the developed methodologies were evaluated in terms of linearity, precision, LOD, LOQ and recovery showing good performance for the determination of both drugs which were successfully quantitated in pharmaceutical formulations. This work reports the first analytical methodology enabling the enantiomeric determination of sulconazole in pharmaceutical formulations.