Chiral separation, direct using CSPs

Current chiral separation methods using liquid chromatographic techniques can be divided into two categories a direct method based on diastereomer formation on CSPs or in mobile phases, and an indirect... 

For the majority of the direct chiral separations in HPLC, different kinds of CSPs are used. The CSP can consist of small chiral molecules or polymers [22] and is often immobilized on agarose [23], silica gel [23,24], or polymer particles [23]. During the two last decades, a number of new phases have been introduced. Most commonly used CSPs are listed in Table 17.1. 

Chiral separation by liquid chromatography can be divided into four approaches (i) derivatisation with a chiral reagent and separation of the resulting diastereomers on a non-chiral stationary phase (non-CSP) (ii) direct separation on a non-CSP by the use of a chiral mobile phase additive (iii) derivatisation with a non-chiral reagent and separation on a CSP and (iv) direct separation on a CSP. 

Chiral separation or sorption is another important technique in chirotechnology. In fact, due to the high cost of chiral catalysts, industries generally prefer chiral separation over asymmetric catalysis to obtain optically pure compounds. As in asymmetric heterogeneous catalysis, a chiral selector (a chiral molecule in optically pure form) can be immobilized on a solid support to make a chiral stationary phase (CSP) of use in direct chiral separation. The basic principle of chiral separation is that the chiral selector interacts differently with the enantiomers of a racemic or enantioenriched mixture to form transient diastereoisomeric species of different stability, and this fine distinction leads to the separation of enantiomers during elution. This topic has also produced a huge number of papers and the readers are referred to the previous reviews for more knowledge on this field [70-73]. 

Methods for the chiral separation of amino acids can be divided into two categories one is an indirect method based on the formation of diastereomers by the reaction of amino acids with a chiral derivatiza-tion reagent and separation of the diastereomeric derivatives on an achiral stationary phase. The other is a direct method based on the formation of diastereomers on a stationary phase or in a mobile phase, where the former uses a chiral stationary phase (CSP) and the latter adds a chiral selector in a mobile phase and uses an achiral stationary phase. 

GC separation of enantiomers can be performed either direct (use of a chiral stationary phase, CSP) or indirect (off-column conversion into diastereomeric derivatives and separation by non-chiral stationary phases). The direct method is preferred as being simpler and minimizing losses during sample preparation. The key, of course, is to find a chiral stationary phase with both selectivity and temperature stability. 

Chiral mobile phase additives (CMPAs) are generally used to perform direct chiral separation in thin-layer chromatography (TLC). This mode offers the advantages of flexibility and low cost as compared to the equivalent chiral stationary phase (CSP). Also, the lack of a wide range of CSPs in TLC resulted in CMPAs becoming a commonly employed approach for enantiomeric separations. 

The chromatographic methods are considered to be most useful for chiral separations. Enantiomers can be separated by two methods (a) indirect method that utilizes derivatizing agents and (b) direct method that uses chiral stationary phases (CSPs) or chiral mobile phase additives (CMPAs) [49-56]. 

On the other hand, the direct chromatographic approach involves the use of the chiral selector either in the mobile phase, a so-called chiral mobile phase additive (CMPA), or in the stationary phase [i.e., the chiral stationary phase (CSP)]. In the latter case, the chiral selector is chemically bonded or coated or allowed to absorb onto a suitable solid support. Of course chiral selectors still can be used as CMPAs, but the approach is a very expensive one owing to the high amount of chiral selector required for the preparation of the mobile phase, and the large amount of costly chiral selector that is wasted (since there is very little chance of recovering this compound). Moreover, this approach is not successftd in the preparative separation of the enantiomers. 

The Pirkle-type chiral stationary phases are quite stable and exhibit good chiral selectivities to a wide range of solute types. These CSPs are also popular for the separation of many drug enantiomers and for amino acid analysis. Primarily, direct chiral resolution of racemic compounds were achieved on these CSPs. However, in some cases, prederivatization of racemic compounds with achiral reagents is required. The applications of these phases are discussed considering re-acidic, re-basic, and re-acidic-basic types of CSP. These CSPs have also been found effective for the chiral resolution on a preparative scale. Generally, the normal phase mode was used for the chiral resolution on these phases. However, with the development of new and more stable phases, the reversed phase mode became popular. 

The CSPs based on chiral crown ethers were prepared by immobilizing them on some suitable solid supports. Blasius et al. [33-35] synthesized a variety of achiral crown ethers based on ion exchangers by condensation, substitution, and polymerization reactions and were used in achiral liquid chromatography. Later, crown ethers were adsorbed on silica gel and were used to separate cations and anions [36-39]. Shinbo et al. [40] adsorbed hydrophobic CCE on silica gel and the developed CSP was used for the chiral resolution of amino acids. Kimura et al. [41-43] immobilized poly- and bis-CCEs on silica gel. Later, Iwachido et al. [44] allowed benzo-15-crown-5, benzo-18-crown-6 and benzo-21-crown-7 CCEs to react on silica gel. Of course, these types of CCE-based phases were used in liquid chromatography, but the column efficiency was very poor due to the limited choice of mobile phases. Therefore, an improvement in immobilization was realized and new methods of immobilization were developed. In this direction, CCEs were immobilized to silica gel by covalent bonds. 

Abou-Basha and Aboul-Enein [22] presented an isocratic and simple HPLC method for the direct resolution of the clenbuterol enantiomers. The method involved the use of a urea-type CSP made of hS )-indoline-2-carboxylic acid and (R)-1 -(naphthyl) ethylamine known as the Chirex 3022 column. The separation factor (a) obtained was 1.27 and the resolution factor (Rs) was 4.2 when using a mobile phase composed of hexane-1,2-dichloroethane-ethanol (80 10 10, v/v/v). The (+)-enantiomer eluted first with a capacity factor (k) of 2.67 followed by a (—)-enantiomer with a k of 3.38. Biesel et al. [23] resolved 1-benzylcyclohexane-1,2-diamine hydrochloride on a Chirex D-penicillamine column. Gasparrini et al. [24] synthesized a series of the chiral selectors based on /ra s -1,2 - d i a m i n o eye I o hexane. The developed CSPs were used for the chiral resolution of arylacetic acids, alcohols, sulfoxides, selenoxides, phosphinates, tertiary phosphine oxides, and benzodiazepines. In another study, the same authors [25] described the chiral resolution of /i-aminocstcrs enantiomers on synthetic CSPs based on a re-acidic derivatives of trans- 1,2-diaminocyclohexane... 

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