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Two LC methods were developed for the achiral and chiral reversed-phase (RP) analysis of an amino acid (AA) pool in a food supplement, in compliance with the main paradigms of Green Chromatography. A direct achiral ion-pairing RP-HPLC method was optimized under gradient conditions with a water-ethanol (EtOH) eluent containing heptafluorobutyric acid (0.1%, v/v), to quantify the eight essential AAs (Ile, Leu, Lys, Met, Phe, Thr, Trp, and Val) contained in the food supplement. Thus, the usually employed acetonitrile was profitably substituted with the less toxic and more benign EtOH. The method was validated for Leu and Phe. The chiral LC method performed with a teicoplanin chiral stationary phase was developed with a water-EtOH (60:40, v/v) eluent with 0.1%, v/v acetic acid. The enantioselective analysis was carried out without any prior derivatization step. Both developed methods performed highly for all eight AAs and revealed that: (i) the content of six out of eight AAs was consistent with the manufacturer declaration; (ii) only L-AAs were present. Furthermore, it was demonstrated that a two-dimensional achiral–chiral configuration is possible in practice, making it even more environmentally sustainable. A molecular modelling investigation revealed interesting insights into the enantiorecognition mechanism of Lys. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ever-increasing technological advancement in the (ultra)high-performance liquid chromatography tandem (high-resolution) mass spectrometry platforms have largely contributed to steeply intensify the interest towards lipidomics research. However, mass spectrometers alone are unable to distinguish between enantiomers. This obstacle is especially evident in the case of glycerolipids analysis due the prochiral nature of glycerol. Until a couple of decades ago, the stereoselective analysis of triacylglycerols (TAGs) was performed on the end products generated either from their enzymatic or chemical hydrolysis, namely on mono- or diacyl- sn -glycerols (MAGs and DAGs, respectively). These were then mostly analyzed with Pirkle-type chiral stationary phases (CSPs) after dedicated multi-step derivatization procedures. One of the most significant drawbacks of these traditional methods for enantioselective TAGs analysis (actually of the produced MAGs and DAGs, often investigated as target species per se) was the difficulty to totally abolish the migration of fatty acyls between glycerol positions. This made difficult to control and keep unaltered the stereochemistry of the original molecules. Over the last two decades, it has been widely demonstrated that the enantioselective analysis of intact TAGs as well as of non-derivatized MAGs and DAGs can be efficiently obtained using polysaccharide-based CSPs incorporating either amylose- or cellulose-phenylcarbamate derivatives chiral selectors. In this paper, the enantioselective methods developed with these CSPs for the enantioselective direct LC analysis of MAGs, DAGs and TAGs embedding different types of fatty acid residues are comprehensively reviewed. • Direct chiral analysis of glycerolipids with polysaccharide-based CSPs is described. • Fatty acyl migration is abolished by direct chiral analysis of glycerolipids. • Normal-phase and polar-organic conditions produce profitable performances. • MS detection can be conveniently coupled to the develped chiral LC methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present study, the "Inverted Chirality Columns Approach (ICCA)" was applied to follow an asymmetric synthetic reaction, namely, the addition of butan-2-one to trans -β-nitrostyrene, catalysed by (S)-proline, leading to the formation of 3-methyl-4-phenyl-5-nitro-2-pentan-2-one. The ICCA method was applied to overcome the lack of pure enantiomeric standards. The two widely employed (R , R)- and (S , S)-Whelk-O1 chiral stationary phases (CSPs), incorporating fully synthesized enantiomeric chiral selectors, were profitably used for this purpose. The enantioselective analysis with the two CSPs was performed under optimized reversed-phase conditions with a water/acetonitrile (60/40, v/v) eluent. In the probe reaction under investigation, a diastereomeric excess >90% was found according to a well-established reaction mechanism, thus affording the enantiomer couple (3 S ,4 R)-3-methyl-4-phenyl-5-nitropentan-2-one and (3 R ,4 S)-3-methyl-4-phenyl-5-nitropentan-2-one as the main product. Therefore, the attention was exclusively focused on this enantiomers pair. Rather similar retention and separation factor [1.12 with (R , R)-Whelk-O1 and 1.13 with (S , S)-Whelk-O1] values as well as resolutions [2.06 with (R , R)-Whelk-O1 and 2.30 with (S , S)-Whelk-O1] were produced by the two enantiomeric CSPs. Applying the ICCA concept allowed to identify the two enantiomers-related peaks in the chromatograms, ultimately indicating a 65-to-35 enantiomeric per cent ratio. Electronic circular dichroism (ECD) and high-resolution mass spectrometry analyses of the two peaks collected during the enantioselective analyses further confirmed the enantiomeric nature of the identified compounds. The (3 S ,4 R) < (3 R ,4 S) enantiomer elution order with the (R , R)-Whelk-O1 was fully disclosed thanks to ECD studies coupled with in silico quantum mechanical simulations. As expected, reversed elution order turned out with (S , S)-Whelk-O1. Image 1 • The ICCA was applied to monitor an enantioselective synthesis without enantiomeric standards. • For the enantioseparation, the (R,R)- and (S,S)-Whelk-O1 CSPs were used under RP conditions. • Experimental and in silico ECD spectra defined the enantiomer elution order. • HRMS analysis facilitated the identification of the enantiomers on the chromatogram. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chiral ligand‐exchange chromatography is one of the elective strategies for the direct enantioresolution of small chelating compounds: amino acids, diamines, amino alcohols, diols, small peptides, etc. Unlike other methods, the interaction between chiral selector and analyte enantiomers is mediated by a cation, thus producing diastereomeric ternary complexes. Two main approaches are conventionally applied in chiral ligand‐exchange chromatography. The first relies upon chiral stationary phases where the chiral selector is either covalently immobilized or physically adsorbed onto suitable packing materials (coated phases). In the second approach, chiral molecules are added to the eluent, thus generating chiral eluent systems. Among the advantages of chiral ligand‐exchange chromatography, the generation of UV/vis‐active metal complexes, and the use of commercially available or easy‐to‐synthesize chiral selectors, in combination to rather inexpensive achiral columns for coated phases and chiral eluents, are noteworthy. Besides amino acids and amino alcohols, other species have proven suitable for chiral ligand‐exchange chromatography applications. Recently, the use of either chiral ionic liquids or micellar liquid chromatography systems as well as the successful off‐column formation of diastereomeric complexes have expanded the selectivity profiles and application fields. All of these issues are touched in the review, shedding light to the contributions appeared in the last decade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the development of efficient enantioselective HPLC methods for the analysis of five benzofuran-substituted phenethylamines, two substituted tryptamines, and three substituted cathinones is described. For the first time, reversed-phase (eluents made up with acidic water-methanol solutions) and polar-ionic (eluent made up with an acetonitrile-methanol solution incorporating both an acidic and a basic additive) conditions fully compatible with mass spectrometry (MS) detectors were applied with a chiral stationary phase (CSP) incorporating the (+)-(18-crown-6)–tetracarboxylic acid chiral selector. Enantioresolution was achieved for nine compounds with α and R S factors up to 1.32 and 5.12, respectively. Circular dichroism (CD) detection, CD spectroscopy in stopped-flow mode and quantum mechanical (QM) calculations were successfully employed to investigate the absolute stereochemistry of mephedrone, methylone and butylone and allowed to establish a (R)<(S) enantiomeric elution order for these compounds on the chosen CSP. Whole blood miniaturized samples collected by means of volumetric absorptive microsampling (VAMS) technology and fortified with the target analytes were extracted following an optimized protocol and effectively analysed by means of an ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-MS system. By this way a proof-of-concept procedure was applied, demonstrating the suitability of the method for quali-quantitative enantioselective assessment of the selected psychoactive substances in advanced biological microsamples. VAMS microsamplers including a polypropylene handle topped with a small tip of a polymeric porous material were used and allowed to volumetrically collect small aliquots of whole blood (10 μL) independently from its density. Highly appreciable volumetric accuracy (bias, in the −8.7–8.1% range) and precision (% CV, in the 2.8–5.9% range) turned out. [Display omitted] • The RP and PI enantioresolution of ten NPSs was obtained with a crown-based CSP. • Coupling ECD studies and TD-DFT simulations furnished the EEO of three compounds. • Fortified blood microsamples were enantioselectively analysed by UHPLC-MS. • Enantioselective determination of NPSs was achieved by means of VAMS technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The enantiomers of trans -paroxetine were separated on four chiral stationary phases (CSPs) based on chiral zwitterionic Cinchona alkaloids fused with ( R,R )- or ( S,S )- trans -2-aminocyclohexanesulfonic acid. The enantioseparations were carried out in polar-ionic or in hydro-organic mobile phases with MeOH/THF, MeCN/THF, MeCN/THF/H 2 O and MeOH/MeCN/THF containing organic acid and base additives, in the temperature range 0–50 °C. The effects of the mobile phase composition, the natures and concentrations of the additives and temperature on the separations were investigated. Thermodynamic parameters were calculated from plots of ln α vs 1/ T . Δ(Δ H °) ranged between −3.0 and +1.5 kJ mol −1 , and Δ(Δ S °) between −8.8 and +5.9 J mol −1 K −1 . The enantioseparation was generally enthalpically controlled, the retention factor and separation factor decreasing with increasing temperature, but entropically controlled separation was also observed. The elution sequences of the paroxetine enantiomers on the two pairs of pseudo-enantiomeric CSPs were investigated, and an attempt was made to explain the observed anomalies in silico in order to gain an insight into the underlying molecular recognition events between the four chiral selectors and the analyte enantiomers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Innovations in computer hardware and software capabilities have paved the way for advances in molecular modelling techniques and methods, leading to an unprecedented expansion of their potential applications. In contrast to the docking technique, which usually identifies the most stable selector-selectand (SO-SA) complex for each enantiomer, the molecular dynamics (MD) technique enables the consideration of a distribution of the SO-SA complexes based on their energy profile. This approach provides a more truthful representation of the processes occurring within the column. However, benchmark procedures and focused guidelines for computational treatment of enantioselectivity at the molecular level are still missing. Twenty-eight molecular dynamics simulations were performed to study the enantiorecognition mechanisms of seven N -3,5-dinitrobenzoylated α- and β-amino acids (DNB-AAs), occurring with the two quinine- and quinidine-based (QN-AX and QD-AX) chiral stationary phases (CSPs), under polar-ionic conditions. The MD protocol was optimized in terms of box size, simulation run time, and frame recording frequency. Subsequently, all the trajectories were analyzed by calculating both the type and amount of the interactions engaged by the selectands (SAs) with the two chiral selectors (SOs), as well as the conformational and interaction energy profiles of the formed SA-SO associates. All the MDs were in strict agreement with the experimental enantiomeric elution order and allowed to establish (i) that salt-bridge and H-bond interactions play a pivotal role in the enantiorecognition mechanisms, and (ii) that the π-cation and π-π interactions are the discriminant chemical features between the two SOs in ruling the chiral recognition mechanism. The results of this work clearly demonstrate the high contribution given by MD simulations in the comprehension of the enantiorecognition mechanism with Cinchona alkaloid-based CSPs. However, from this research endeavor it clearly emerged that the MD protocol optimization is crucial for the quality of the produced results. [Display omitted] • The LC enantiorecognition mechanisms were studied by molecular dynamic simulations. • The molecular dynamics protocol was iteratively optimized. • The interactions engaged and energy profiles of the SA-SO associates were monitored. • Analytes were used as chemical probes underlying differences of between the two CSPs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present study, an in silico methodology able to define the binding modes adopted by carnosine enantiomers in the setting of the chiral recognition process is described. The inter‐ and intramolecular forces involved in the enantioseparation process with the Teicoplanin A2‐2 chiral selector and carnosine as model compound are successfully identified. This approach fully rationalizes, at a molecular level, the (S) < (R) enantiomeric elution order obtained under reversed‐phase conditions. Consistent explanations were achieved by managing molecular dynamics results with advanced techniques of data analysis. As a result, the time‐dependent identification of all the interactions simultaneously occurring in the chiral selector‐enantiomeric analyte binding process was obtained. Accordingly, it was found that only (R)‐carnosine is able to engage a stabilizing charge–charge interaction through its ionized imidazole ring with the carboxylate counter‐part on the chiral selector. Instead, (S)‐carnosine establishes intramolecular contacts between its ionized functional groups, that limit its conformational freedom and impair the association with the chiral selector unit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Enantiorecognition mechanism investigated at a molecular level. • In silico model of grafted ristocetin A based chiral stationary phase. • Identification of the driving forces involved in the SO-SA association process. • Thermodynamic characteristics of adsorption of dipeptides enantiomeric pairs. Two chiral stationary phases virtually reproducing the Nautilus-R column were modeled in silico to study the enantiorecognition mechanism of some selected dipeptides, taking into consideration the two different anchoring alternatives to the silica layer involving the two ristocetin A amino groups. A mobile phase composed of water–methanol (40:60, v/v) was included in the system. The analyses of the trajectories supported the experimental L(LL)

Single enantiomers of mandelic acid (1), 3-phenyllactic acid (2), and 3-(4-hydroxyphenyl)lactic acid (3) are the subject of many fields of investigation, spanning from the pharmaceutical synthesis to that of biocompatible and biodegradable polymers, while passing from the interest towards their antimicrobial activity to their role as biomarkers of particular pathological conditions or occupational exposures to specific xenobiotics. All above mentioned issues justify the need for accurate analytical methods enabling the correct determination of the individual enantiomers. So far, all the developed liquid chromatography (LC) methods were not or hardly compatible with mass spectrometry (MS) detection. In this paper, a commercially available Cinchona -alkaloid derivative zwitterionic chiral stationary phase [that is, the CHIRALPAK® ZWIX(−)] was successfully used to optimize the enantioresolution of compounds 1–3 under polar-ionic (PI) conditions with a mobile phase consisting of an acetonitrile/methanol 95/5 (v/v) mixture with 80 mM formic acid. With the optimized conditions, enantioseparation and enantioresolution values up to 1.46 and 4.41, respectively, were obtained. In order to assess the applicability of the optimized enantioselective chromatography conditions in real-life scenarios and on MS-based systems, a proof-of-concept application was efficiently carried out by analysing dry urine spot samples spiked with 1 by means of a LC-MS system. The (S)<(R) enantiomer elution order (EEO) was established for compounds 1 and 2 by analysing a pure enantiomeric standard of known configuration. This was not possible for 3 because not commercially available. For this compound, the same EEO was identified applying a procedure based on ab initio time-dependent density-functional theory simulations coupled to electronic circular dichroism analyses. Moreover, a molecular dynamics simulation unveiled the role of the phenolic OH in compound 3 in the retention mechanism. [Display omitted] • ZWIX(−) allows the enantioresolution of the three aromatic α-hydroxy acids. • The optimized polar-ionic conditions are fully compatible with MS detectors. • The developed LC method can be used to study biological matrices with MS detectors. • Combining in silico simulations and ECD analyses is useful to derive the EEO. • The retention mechanism can be explained with molecular dynamic simulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Cellulose chloromethyl phenylcarbamate CSPs enable the enantioseparation of fentanyls. • Polar-ionic conditions are suitable to obtain high levels of enantioselectivity. • The developed methods are fully compatible with HRMS detectors. Fentanyl analogues used in therapy and a range of highly potent non-pharmaceutical fentanyl derivatives are subject to international control, as the latter are increasingly being synthesized illicitly and sold as 'synthetic heroin', or mixed with heroin. A significant number of hospitalizations and deaths have been reported in the EU and USA following the use of illicitly synthesized fentanyl derivatives. It has been unequivocally demonstrated that the enantiomers of fentanyl derivatives exhibit different pharmaco-toxicological profiles, which makes crucial to avail of suitable analytical methods enabling investigations at a "stereochemical level". Chromatographic methods useful to discriminate the enantioseparation of fentanyls and their derivatives are still missing in the literature. This is the first study in which the enantioseparation of four fentanyl derivatives, that is, (±)- trans -3-methyl norfentanyl, (±)- cis -3-methyl norfentanyl, β-hydroxyfentanyl, and β-hydroxythiofentanyl, has been obtained under polar-ionic conditions. Indeed, the use of ACN-based mobile phases with minor amounts of either 2-propanol or ethanol (plus diethylamine and formic acid as ionic additives) allowed obtaining enantioseparation and enantioresolution factors up to 1.83 and 7.02, respectively. For the study, the two chiral stationary phases cellulose tris (3-chloro-4-methylphenylcarbamate) and cellulose tris (4-chloro-3-methylphenylcarbamate) were used, displaying a remarkably different performance towards the enantioseparation of (±)- cis -3-methyl norfentanyl. Chiral LC analyses with a high-resolution mass spectrometry detector were also carried out in order to confirm the obtained data and demonstrate the suitability and compatibility of the optimized mobile phases with mass spectrometric systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• (S,S)-Whek-O1 allowed the NP enantioseparation of partially saturated 2 H -indazoles. • (S,S)-Whek-O1 was used for a small-scale preparative enantioseparation. • (S,S)-Whek-O1 exhibited high enantioselectivity and chemoselectivity. • ECD studies coupled to ab initio TD-DFT simulations enabled to establish the EEO. • In-silico molecular dynamics can make a priori predictions on the enantioseparation. With the selection of partially saturated 2 H -indazoles as model compounds, we demonstrate the possibility to use Whelk-O1 chiral stationary phases (CSPs) to succeed in efficient small-scale preparative enantioseparations. Runs of three consecutive liquid chromatography injections (about 300 μg of racemate repeatedly injected in a 100 μL loop) produced groups of peaks without band contamination (α = 1.2 and R S = 2.57). With this procedure approximately 3.0 mg of each enantiomer, with enantiomeric excess ≥ 97% were obtained. Very profitably, the high volatility of n -hexane used as the sole eluent facilitated the solvent evaporation after the enantiomer recovery. High resolution mass spectrometry analysis confirmed that the chemical identity of the two enantiomers was preserved along the entire process. The ability of Whelk-O1 phases in enantioseparating structurally similar compounds was confirmed with the analysis of other two racemates. Moreover, the relevant chemoselectivity exhibited by the CSP towards the three racemates should allow to simultaneously optimizing the enantioselectivity of different analytes and perform small-scale enantioresolutions of different compounds during the same run. In this study , the integration of experimental off-line electronic circular dichroism analysis with ab initio time-dependent density-functional theory simulations facilitated the assignment of the absolute configuration of the single enantiomers, while a molecular dynamics protocol can be useful to make a priori predictions of the enantioseparation ability of CSP towards selected compounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]