Enantioseparation of novel chiral sulfoxides on chlorinated polysaccharide stationary phases in supercritical fluid chromatography

Mass spectrometry coupling of chip-based supercritical fluid chromatography enabled by make-up flow-assisted backpressure regulation

This work introduces a novel microfluidic backpressure pressure control developed for chip-based supercritical fluid chromatography (chipSFC). The presented on-chip pressure control mechanism involves the post-column addition of a viscous make-up stream, which enables pressure regulation within the range of 73 to 130 bar range. In contrast to approaches using mechanical backpressure regulators, this chip-based make-up-assisted pressure regulation offers a wear-free alternative that functions entirely through fluidic means and contributes minimally to extra column volume. It prevents phase separation of the supercritical mobile phase and, therefore, expands the analytical scope of chipSFC to detection systems with an ambient pressure interface. This was demonstrated by a proof-of-principle experiment, where a model mixture was separated within 30 s and detected using atmospheric pressure ionisation mass spectrometry.

Fundamentals of chirality, resolution, and enantiopure molecule synthesis methods

The chirality of molecules is a concept that explains the interactions in nature. We may observe the same formula but different organizations revolving around the chiral center. Since Pasteur's meticulous observation of sodium ammonium tartrate crystals' structure, scientists have discovered many features of chiral molecules. The number of newly approved single enantiomeric drugs increases every year and takes place in the market. Thus, separation or resolution methods of racemic mixtures are of continued importance in the efficacy of drugs, installation of affordable production processes, and convenient synthetic chemistry practice. This article presents the asymmetric synthesis approaches and the classification of direct resolution methods of chiral molecules.

Recognition in the Domain of Molecular Chirality: From Noncovalent Interactions to Separation of Enantiomers

It is not a coincidence that both chirality and noncovalent interactions are ubiquitous in nature and synthetic molecular systems. Noncovalent interactivity between chiral molecules underlies enantioselective recognition as a fundamental phenomenon regulating life and human activities. Thus, noncovalent interactions represent the narrative thread of a fascinating story which goes across several disciplines of medical, chemical, physical, biological, and other natural sciences. This review has been conceived with the awareness that a modern attitude toward molecular chirality and its consequences needs to be founded on multidisciplinary approaches to disclose the molecular basis of essential enantioselective phenomena in the domain of chemical, physical, and life sciences. With the primary aim of discussing this topic in an integrated way, a comprehensive pool of rational and systematic multidisciplinary information is provided, which concerns the fundamentals of chirality, a description of noncovalent interactions, and their implications in enantioselective processes occurring in different contexts. A specific focus is devoted to enantioselection in chromatography and electromigration techniques because of their unique feature as "multistep" processes. A second motivation for writing this review is to make a clear statement about the state of the art, the tools we have at our disposal, and what is still missing to fully understand the mechanisms underlying enantioselective recognition.

Stereoselective Processes Based on σ-Hole Interactions

The σ-hole interaction represents a noncovalent interaction between atoms with σ-hole(s) on their surface (such as halogens and chalcogens) and negative sites. Over the last decade, significant developments have emerged in applications where the σ-hole interaction was demonstrated to play a key role in the control over chirality. The aim of this review is to give a comprehensive overview of the current advancements in the use of σ-hole interactions in stereoselective processes, such as formation of chiral supramolecular assemblies, separation of enantiomers, enantioselective complexation and asymmetric catalysis.

Advanced Development of Supercritical Fluid Chromatography in Herbal Medicine Analysis

The greatest challenge in the analysis of herbal components lies in their variety and complexity. Therefore, efficient analytical tools for the separation and qualitative and quantitative analysis of multi-components are essential. In recent years, various emerging analytical techniques have offered significant support for complicated component analysis, with breakthroughs in selectivity, sensitivity, and rapid analysis. Among these techniques, supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC) has attracted much attention because of its high column efficiency and environmental protection. SFC can be used to analyze a wide range of compounds, including non-polar and polar compounds, making it a prominent analytical platform. The applicability of SFC for the separation and determination of natural products in herbal medicines is overviewed in this article. The range of applications was expanded through the selection and optimization of stationary phases and mobile phases. We also focus on the two-dimensional SFC analysis. This paper provides new insight into SFC method development for herbal medicine analysis.

Supercritical fluid chromatography for separation of chiral planar metallocenes

Unsymmetrically disubstituted metallocene derivatives, characterized as the first sandwich structure, have found interest in asymmetrical synthesis and in medicinal chemistry as well. Besides, they present a particular case of chirality. Twenty original and six commercially available molecules presenting either i) a planar chirality or ii) an asymmetrical carbon containing group or iii) being symmetrically substituted were analyzed in supercritical fluid chromatography on eleven polysaccharide-based chiral stationary phases with carbon dioxide containing 30% of methanol or 2-propanol as a co-solvent mobile phase. A basic additive, either diethylamine, triethylamine or n-butylamine was also required at 1% to the co-solvent for elution. While some of the tested chiral stationary phases provided enantioseparation for the racemates, chlorinated cellulosic phases proved to be both highly retentive and highly enantioselective towards these particular species with the highest rate of success compared to their non-chlorinated counterparts. For instance, the resolution value was equal to 14.1 for one ferrocene derivative in one-hour analysis time on cellulose tris(3,5-dichlorophenylcarbamate) column with 30% 2-propanol/1% n-butylamine while a single peak was observed under the same conditions on cellulose tris(3,5-dimethylphenylcarbamate) column. Experimental parameters were arbitrarily set at 150 bar outlet pressure, 40 °C temperature and 3 mL/min flow-rate.

Supercritical Fluid Chromatography for Chiral Analysis, Part 2: Applications

In the second part of this review article, the recent progress in supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC) for enantiomeric separations is evaluated. With the substantial developments carried out over the past years in instrumentation, columns, and detector hyphenation, the interest in chiral SFC has been steadily growing in various fields. In combination with novel developments in chiral stationary phase chemistries, the enantioselective analysis range has been significantly extended. Several applications reported on the enantioselective separation of drugs and pharmaceutical compounds using chiral SFC are discussed, including pharmaceutical applications, clinical research, forensic toxicology, and environmental sciences.

Separation of chiral and achiral impurities in paroxetine hydrochloride in a single run using supercritical fluid chromatography with a polysaccharide stationary phase

Separating paroxetine hydrochloride and its impurities using conventional reversed-phase liquid chromatography (RPLC) is challenging due to their highly similar structures. In the present study, a rapid, simple, sensitive and environmentally friendly method was developed for the determination of chiral and achiral impurities in raw materials of paroxetine hydrochloride using chiral supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC). The impacts of chiral stationary phases (CSPs), mobile phases, column temperature and back pressure on the retention and separation of analytes were comprehensively evaluated. After method optimization, a satisfying result was obtained on a cellulose tris-(3-chloro-4-methylphenylcarbamate) stationary phase in 4.0 min using 70% CO₂ and 20 mM ammonium acetate in 30% methanol as the mobile phase. Molecular docking was further performed to understand the interactions between the analytes and CSP. The results suggested that hydrogen bonding and π-π interactions were the dominant interactions. The affinity given by the software was in good agreement with the elution order and free energy (△G) values obtained from van't Hoff equations. The results of molecular docking also provide insights into the different retentions of N-methylparoxetine at different temperatures. The results of method validation revealed that the method was sensitive with a limit of detection of approximately 0.05 μg·mL^-1 (corresponding to approximately 0.005% paroxetine hydrochloride in the sample solution). The relative standard deviations (RSDs) of precision and intra-assay precision were all less than 2.0%, and the recoveries of the method were 93.8~105.3% with RSDs less than 3.0%. The chiral and achiral RPLC methods included in the Chinese pharmacopoeia and the SFC method proposed in this study were simultaneously used to determine the impurity content in the raw materials of paroxetine hydrochloride. The results showed that impurities that cannot be detected by the reference method can be accurately quantified using the SFC method. In addition, the SFC method has advantages in terms of throughput, analysis cost and simplicity. This study can provide a reference for further research of impurities in paroxetine hydrochloride and promote the application of chiral SFC in the rapid separation of structurally similar compounds.

Triptycene derivatives as chiral probes for studying the molecular enantiorecognition on sub-2-μm particle cellulose tris(3,5-dimethylphenylcarbamate) chiral stationary phase

Two chiral triptycene derivatives were analyzed on the Chiralpak IB-U column packed with cellulose tris(3,5-dimethylphenylcarbamate)-based sub-2-μm diameter particles. Under normal-phase conditions, sub-minute baseline enantioseparations were obtained. Differences in structural elements and chromatographic behavior of the investigated compounds were evaluated to identify the interactions that drive the chiral discrimination process. From the evaluation of the experimental chromatographic data, it was found that hydrogen bond formation is essential for the separation of enantiomers.

Synthesis and Configurational Assignment of Vinyl Sulfoximines and Sulfonimidamides

Vinyl sulfones and sulfonamides are valued for their use as electrophilic warheads in covalent protein inhibitors. Conversely, the S(VI) aza-isosteres thereof, vinyl sulfoximines and sulfonimidamides, are far less studied and have yet to be applied to the field of protein bioconjugation. Herein, we report a range of different synthetic methodologies for constructing vinyl sulfoximine and vinyl sulfonimidamide architectures that allows access to new areas of electrophilic chemical space. We demonstrate how late-stage functionalization can be applied to these motifs to incorporate alkyne tags, generating fully functionalized probes for future chemical biology applications. Finally, we establish a workflow for determining the absolute configuration of enantioenriched vinyl sulfoximines and sulfonimidamides by comparing experimentally and computationally determined electronic circular dichroism spectra, enabling access to configurationally assigned enantiomeric pairs by separation.

Chiral Recognition for Chromatography and Membrane-Based Separations: Recent Developments and Future Prospects

With the rapid development of global industry and increasingly frequent product circulation, the separation and detection of chiral drugs/pesticides are becoming increasingly important. The chiral nature of substances can result in harm to the human body, and the selective endocrine-disrupting effect of drug enantiomers is caused by differential enantiospecific binding to receptors. This review is devoted to the specific recognition and resolution of chiral molecules by chromatography and membrane-based enantioseparation techniques. Chromatographic enantiomer separations with chiral stationary phase (CSP)-based columns and membrane-based enantiomer filtration are detailed. In addition, the unique properties of these chiral resolution methods have been summarized for practical applications in the chemistry, environment, biology, medicine, and food industries. We further discussed the recognition mechanism in analytical enantioseparations and analyzed recent developments and future prospects of chromatographic and membrane-based enantioseparations.

Shedding light on mechanisms leading to convex-upward van Deemter curves on a cellulose tris(4-chloro-3-methylphenylcarbamate)-based chiral stationary phase

An unusual convex-upward van Deemter curve was observed for the more retained enantiomer of a chiral sulfoxide (2-(benzylsulfinyl)benzamide) on a cellulose tris(4-chloro-3-methylphenylcarbamate)-based chiral stationary phase (CSP), prepared on silica particles of 1000 Å pore size. In contrast, the firstly eluted enantiomer of the same molecule exhibited the traditional convex-downward van Deemter curve. A detailed kinetic and thermodynamic investigation has revealed that this unusual phenomenon, which however has already been observed in chiral chromatography, originates when the adsorption of the compound is very strong and the solid-phase diffusion negligible. Experimentally, the intraparticle diffusion of the more retained enantiomer of the sulfoxide was found to be one order of magnitude smaller than that of the first eluted one. Overall, this translates into very little longitudinal diffusion (b-term of van Deemter curve) accompanied by high solid-liquid mass transfer resistance (c-term). Finally the comparison with another, differently-substituted chiral sulfoxide (whose enantiomers both exhibit traditional van Deemter curve behavior) has allowed to correlate these findings to the specific characteristics of the molecule.

Supercritical Fluid Extraction of Pesticides and Insecticides from Food Samples and Plant Materials

The principal intention of this study is presenting the attempts carried out for extracting, separating, and determining of the pesticide and insecticide residues existing in food and plant samples. In this regard, a set of content, including the explanations about the supercritical fluid extraction (SFE), supercritical fluid chromatography, and various types of pesticides are indicated. Besides, the parameters affecting the pesticides extraction composed of temperature, pressure, modifier, drying agent, and so on are discussed. Also, examples of insecticides extraction by SFE technique as an important subset of pesticides are indicated. Along with these items, some interesting works, concerning the innovations implemented in the field of SFE of pesticide and insecticide residues from foodstuff and plants are depicted.

Halogen bond in separation science: A critical analysis across experimental and theoretical results

The halogen bond (XB) is a noncovalent interaction involving a halogen acting as electrophile and a Lewis base. In the last decades XB has found practical application in several fields. Nevertheless, despite the pivotal role of noncovalent interactions in separation science, investigations of XB in this field are still in their infancy, and so far a limited number of studies focusing on solid phase extraction, liquid-liquid microextraction, liquid-phase chromatography, and gas chromatography separation have been published. In addition, in the last few years, our groups have been systematically studying the potentiality of XB for HPLC enantioseparations. On this basis, in the present paper up-to-date results emerging from focused experiments and theoretical analyses performed by our laboratories are integrated with a descriptive presentation of XB features and the few studies published until now in separation science. Then, the aim of this article is to provide a comprehensive and critical discussion of the topic, and account for some still open issues in the application of XB to separate chemical mixtures.

Comparative study on enantiomer resolving ability of amylose tris(3-chloro-5-methylphenylcarbamate) covalently immobilized onto silica in nano-liquid chromatography and capillary electrochromatography

In the present study separation of enantiomers of some chiral neutral and weakly acidic analytes was investigated on the chiral stationary phase (CSP) made by covalent immobilization of amylose tris(3-chloro-5-methylphenylcarbamate) onto silica in nano-liquid chromatography (nano-LC) and capillary electrochromatography (CEC) in acetonitrile and aqueous acetonitrile. Few comparisons were made also between the enantioseparations in nano-LC and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with the chiral column of 4.6 × 250 mm dimension. Slightly better separation of enantiomers was observed in HPLC mode compared to nano-LC mode. It was shown that in the capillary columns packed with the CSP containing about 20% (w/w) of a covalently immobilized neutral chiral selector, amylose tris(3-chloro-5-methylphenylcarbamate), sufficient electroosmotic flow has been generated and enantioseparations with reasonable analysis time were performed also in CEC mode. It was shown once again that CEC offers a clear advantage over nano-LC from the viewpoint of plate numbers and peak resolution.

Subcritical Fluid Chromatography at Sub-Ambient Temperatures for the Chiral Resolution of Ketamine Metabolites with Rapid-Onset Antidepressant Effects

Chiral metabolites of ketamine exerting rapid-onset yet sustained antidepressant effects may be marketed directly in the future, but require chemo- and enantio-selective chromatographic methods for quality assurance and control. The chromatographic behavior of S-/R-ketamine, S-/R-norketamine, S-/R-dehydronorketamine, and (2R,6R)-/(2S,6S)-hydroxynorketamine in supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC) was investigated computationally and experimentally with the aim of identifying problematic pairs of enantiomers and parameters for chiral resolution. Retention on three different polysaccharide-based chiral stationary phases (Lux Amylose-2, i-Amylose-3, and i-Cellulose-5) provided new information on the significance of halogen atoms as halogen bond donors and hydrogen bond acceptors for enantioselectivity, which could be corroborated in silico by molecular docking studies. Modifiers inversely affected enantioselectivity and retention. Methanol yielded lower run times but superior chiral resolution compared to 2-propanol. Lower temperatures than those conventionally screened did not impair phase homogeneity but improved enantioresolution, at no cost to reproducibility. Thus, sub-ambient temperature subcritical fluid chromatography (SubFC), essentially low-temperature HPLC with subcritical CO2, was applied. The optimization of the SubFC method facilitated the chiral separation of ketamine and its metabolites, which was applied in combination with direct injection and online supercritical fluid extraction to determine the purity of pharmaceutical ketamine formulations for proof of concept.

Chromatographic and thermodynamic comparison of amylose tris(3-chloro-5-methylphenylcarbamate) coated or covalently immobilized on silica in high-performance liquid chromatographic separation of the enantiomers of select chiral weak acids

The separation of enantiomers of some chiral weak acids was studied in HPLC with chiral HPLC columns prepared by coating or covalent immobilization of the same chiral selector, namely amylose tris(3-chloro-5-methylphenylcarbamate) onto silica. After screening some representatives of arylpropionic acid derivatives, coumarins and barbiturates in hydrocarbon-alcohol type mobile phases, we studied the temperature dependence of separation parameters for ketoprofen and naproxen. Instances of reversal of the enantiomer elution order were observed function of column temperature, nature of polar modifier and its content in the mobile phase, as well as between the coated and covalently immobilized versions of the columns made with more-or-less the same chiral selector. Thermodynamic parameters such as Gibb's free energy, the standard molar entropy and the standard molar enthalpy of analyte transfer from the mobile to the stationary phase were calculated in some cases in order to explain the differences observed in the enantiomer separation ability and pattern of coated and covalently immobilized columns.

Performance comparison of chlorinated chiral stationary phases in supercritical fluid chromatography for separation of selected pyrrolidone derivatives

The effects of two chlorinated chiral stationary phases, namely, Lux Cellulose-2 and Lux i-Cellulose-5, flow-rate, percentage of co-solvent and chemical structures of the compounds on retention and resolution were studied within this article. In this work a backpressure of 150 bar, a temperature of 40 °C and 10% of methanol as co-solvent were chosen as operating conditions. The optimum flow-rate was 2 mL/min. The percentage of co-solvent was studied between 7.5% and 15%. We have observed that 15% of methanol gave the best results for most of the compounds. For all the derivatives, the Lux Cellulose-2 provided better resolutions going from 1.50 to 3.59 compared with Lux i-Cellulose-5.

Enantioseparation, Stereochemical Assignment and Chiral Recognition Mechanism of Sulfoxide-Containing Drugs

The distinct pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic properties of enantiopure sulfoxide drugs have stimulated us to systematically investigate their chiral separation, stereochemical assignment, and chiral recognition mechanism. Herein, four clinically widely-used sulfoxide drugs were chosen and optically resolved on various chiral stationary phases (CSPs). Theoretical simulations including electronic circular dichroism (ECD) calculation and molecular docking were adopted to assign the stereochemistry and reveal the underlying chiral recognition mechanism. Our results showed that the sequence of calculated mean binding energies between each pair of enantiomers and CSP matched exactly with experimentally observed enantiomeric elution order (EEO). It was also found that the length of hydrogen bond might contribute dominantly the interaction between two enantiomers and CSP. We hope our study could provide a fresh perspective to explore the stereochemistry and chiral recognition mechanism of chiral drugs.

Application of cellulose 3,5-dichlorophenylcarbamate covalently immobilized on superficially porous silica for the separation of enantiomers in high-performance liquid chromatography

Our earlier studies have demonstrated the applicability of polysaccharide-based chiral selectors in combination with superficially porous (or core-shell) silica (SPS) particles for the preparation of highly efficient chiral stationary phases (CSP). In earlier studies, CSPs were prepared by coating (adsorption) of the chiral selector onto the surface of silica. In this study we report for the first time the CSP obtained by covalent immobilization of a chiral selector onto the surface of SPS particles. The applicability of this CSP for the separation of enantiomers in pure methanol and acetonitrile, as well as in n-hexane/2-propanol mobile phases is shown. The effect of the injected sample amount, mobile phase flow rate and detection frequency on separation performance were studied, as well as high efficiency separation of enantiomers with the analysis time less than 30 s was attempted.

Halogen bond in high-performance liquid chromatography enantioseparations: Description, features and modelling

Halogen bond (XB)-driven enantioseparations involve halogen-centred regions of electronic charge depletion (σ-hole) as electrophilic recognition sites. The knowledge in this field is still in its infancy. Indeed, although the influence of halogens on enantioseparation have been often considered, only recently the function of electrophilic halogens (Cl, Br, I) as enantioseparations 'drivers' has been demonstrated by our groups. Further to these studies, in this paper we focus on some unexplored issues. First, as XB-driven chiral recognition mechanisms are at an early stage of comprehension, a theoretical investigation based on a series of 32 molecular dynamic (MD) simulations was performed by using polyhalogenated 4,4'-bipyridines and polysaccharide-based polymers as ligands and receptors, respectively. Enantiomer elution orders (EEOs) were derived from calculations and the theoretical model accounted for some analyte- and chiral stationary phase (CSP)-dependent experimental EEO inversions. Then, the function of halogen-centred σ-holes in competitive systems, presenting also hydrogen bond (HB) centres as recognition sites, was considered. In this regard, Pirkle's enantioseparations of halogenated compounds performed on Whelk-O1 were theoretically re-examined and electrostatic potentials (EPs) associated with both σ-holes on halogens and HB centres were computed and compared. Then, the enantioseparation of halogenated 2-nitro-1-arylethanols was performed on cellulose tris(3,5-dimethylphenylcarbamate) (CDMPC) and the influence of halogen substituents on the chromatographic results was evaluated by correlating theoretical and experimental data.

Enantiomeric separation of six chiral pesticides that contain chiral sulfur/phosphorus atoms by supercritical fluid chromatography

Six chiral pesticides containing chiral sulfur/phosphorus atoms were separated by supercritical fluid chromatography with supercritical CO₂ as the main mobile phase component. The effect of the chiral stationary phase, different type and concentration of modifiers, column temperature, and backpressure on the separation efficiency was investigated to obtain the appropriate separation condition. Five chiral pesticides (isofenphos-methyl, isocarbophos, flufiprole, fipronil, and ethiprole) were baseline separated under experimental conditions, while isofenphos only obtained partial separation. The Chiralpak AD-3 column showed a better chiral separation ability than others for chiral pesticides containing chiral sulfur/phosphorus atoms. When different modifiers at the same concentration were used, the retention factor of pesticides except flufiprole decreased in the order of isopropanol, ethanol, methanol; meanwhile, the retention factor of flufiprole increased in the order of isopropanol, ethanol, methanol. For a given modifier, the retention factor and resolution decreased on the whole with the increase of its concentration. The enantiomer separation of five chiral pesticides was an "enthalpy-driven" process, and the separation factor decreased as the temperature increased. The backpressure of the mobile phase had little effect on the separation factor and resolution.

Advances of Vibrational Circular Dichroism (VCD) in bioanalytical chemistry. A review

Vibrational Circular Dichroism (VCD) is a unique and relatively new spectroscopic technique that is capable of determining an absolute configuration of chiral molecules. VCD can be also used to determine structure of large macromolecules. This review highlights the most recent advances of VCD in bioanalytical chemistry. It shows that VCD is capable of unraveling supramolecular organization of peptides, proteins, saccharides, glycerophospholipids, polypeptide microcrystals, as well as amyloid fibrils and DNA. This review also demonstrates how VCD can be utilized to explore molecule-molecule interactions that determine mechanisms of chiral separations in chromatography. It aims to attract attention of scientists from all different research areas demonstrating the strength and capability of this very powerful spectroscopic technique.