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Chiral carbon nanoparticles (CNPs) represent a rapidly evolving area of research for optical and biomedical technologies. Similar to small molecules, applications of CNPs as well as fundamental relationships between their optical activity and structural asymmetry would greatly benefit from their enantioselective separations by chromatography. However, this technique remains in its infancy for chiral carbon and other nanoparticles. The possibility of effective separations using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with chiral stationary phases remains an open question whose answer can also shed light on the components of multiscale chirality of the nanoparticles. Herein, we report a detailed methodology of HPLC for successful separation of chiral CNPs and establish a path for its future optimization. A mobile phase of water/acetonitrile was able to achieve chiral separation of CNPs derived from L‐ and D‐cysteine denoted as L‐CNPs and D‐CNPs. Molecular dynamics simulations show that the teicoplanin‐based stationary phase has a higher affinity for L‐CNPs than for D‐CNPs, in agreement with experiments. The experimental and computational findings jointly indicate that chiral centers of chiral CNPs are present at their surface, which is essential for the multiple applications of these chiral nanostructures and equally essential for interactions with biomolecules and circularly polarized photons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Data on the use of macrocyclic antibiotics (vancomycin, teicoplanin, teicoplanin aglycone, and eremomycin) for the enantioseparation of amino acids, various amino acid derivatives, α-phenylcarboxylic acids, β-blockers, and some pharmaceutical preparations in reversed-phase and polar-organic HPLC modes are summarized. It is shown that mixed chiral selectors (eremomycin-vancomycin, eremomycin-bovine serum albumin) combine the properties of two selectors. Eremomycin and macrolides (azithromycin, erythromycin, and clarithromycin) are successfully used as chiral selectors in capillary electrophoresis. Aqueous and aqueous-organic supporting electrolytes (SEs) with the addition of eremomycin or nonaqueous supporting electrolytes with the addition of a macrolide are used for enantioseparation. The use of nonaqueous supporting electrolytes decreases the adsorption of the selectors on the quartz capillary surface and enables the separation of enantiomers at a low concentration of a chiral selector. Additions of boric acid into the supporting electrolyte improve the selectivity of separation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Verubecestat is an inhibitor of β-site amyloid precursor protein cleaving enzyme 1 (BACE1) being evaluated in clinical trials for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. Synthetic route development involves diastereoselective transformations with a need for enantiomeric excess (ee) determination of each intermediate and final active pharmaceutical ingredient (API). The analytical technical package of validated methods relies on enantioselective SFC and RPLC separations using multiple 3 and 5 μm coated polysaccharide-based chiral stationary phases (CSPs) and mobile phases combinations. Evaluation of recently developed chiral columns revealed a single chiral selector (Teicoplanin) bonded to 2.7 μm core-shell particles using H 3 PO 4 in H 2 O/ACN and triethylammonium acetate: methanol based eluents at different isocratic compositions allowed good enatioseparation of all verubecestat intermediates. EE determination of verubecestat is easily performed on NicoShell, another macrocyclic glycopeptide chiral selector bonded to 2.7 μm superficially porous particles. This approach enables fast and reliable enantiopurity analysis of the entire verubecestat synthetic route using only two chiral columns and mobile phases on a conventional HPLC system, simplifying technical package preparation, method validation and transfer to manufacturing facilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chiral natural product molecules are generally assumed to be biosynthesized in an enantiomerically pure or enriched fashion. Nevertheless, a significant amount of racemates or enantiomerically enriched mixtures has been reported from natural sources. This number is estimated to be even larger since the enantiomeric purity of secondary metabolites is rarely checked in the natural product isolation pipeline. This latter fact may have drastic effects on the evaluation of the biological activity of chiral natural products. A second bottleneck is the determination of their absolute configurations. Despite the widespread use of optical rotation and electronic circular dichroism, most of the stereochemical assignments are based on empirical correlations with similar compounds reported in the literature. As an alternative, the combination of vibrational circular dichroism and quantum chemical calculations has emerged as a powerful and reliable tool for both conformational and configurational analysis of natural products, even for those lacking UV-Vis chromophores. In this review, we aim to provide the reader with a critical overview of the occurrence of enantiomeric mixtures of secondary metabolites in nature as well the best practices for their detection, enantioselective separation using liquid chromatography, and determination of absolute configuration by means of vibrational circular dichroism and density functional theory calculations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ChirBase, a database for the chromatographic separation of enantiomers containing more than 200,000 records compiled from the literature, was used to develop quantitative structure activity models for the prediction of which chiral stationary phase will work for the separation of a given molecule. Constructuion of QSAR models for the enantioseparation of nineteen chiral stationary phases was attempted using only analyte structural information, leading to the producton of self-consistent models in four cases. These models were tested by predicting which in-house racemic compounds would and would not be resolved on the different columns. Some degree of success was observed, but the sparseness of data within ChirBase, which contains enantioseparations for only a subset of molecules on a subset of columns under a variety of conditions may limit the creation of effective models. Augmented data sets gleaned from automated chromatographic method development systems deployed in academic and industrial research laboratories or the use of models that take other factors such as solvent composition, temperature, etc. into account could potentially be useful for the development of more robust models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We apply matched molecular pair (MMP) analysis to data from ChirBase, which contains literature reports of chromatographic enantioseparations. For the 19 chiral stationary phases we examined, we were able to identify 289 sets of pairs where there is a statistically significant and consistent difference in enantioseparation due to a small chemical change. In many cases these changes highlight enantioselectivity differences between pairs or small families of closely related molecules that have for many years been used to probe the mechanisms of chromatographic chiral recognition; for example, the comparison of N-H vs. N-Me analytes to determine the criticality of an N-H hydrogen bond in chiral molecular recognition. In other cases, statistically significant MMPs surfaced by the analysis are less familiar or somewhat puzzling, sparking a need to generate and test hypotheses to more fully understand. Consequently, mining of appropriate datasets using MMP analysis provides an important new approach for studying and understanding the process of chromatographic enantioseparation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Molecular dynamics simulations are employed to examine the selectivity of four proline-based chiral stationary phases in two solvent environments, a relatively apolar n -hexane/2-propanol solvent and a polar water/methanol solvent. The four chiral surfaces are based on a BOC-terminated diproline, a TMA-terminated diproline, a TMA-terminated triproline and a TMA-terminated hexaproline. This range of chiral selectors allows an analysis of the impact of oligomer length and terminal group on selectivity while the two solvent environments indicate the impact of solvent hydrogen bonding and polarity. The selector–analyte interactions are examined for six closely related analytes that each have an aromatic moiety, a hydrogen, and an alcohol group directly bonded to the stereocenter. The analytes differ in the nature of the aromatic group (phenyl or anthracyl), in the attachment point (to the central ring or a side ring in the anthracyl), and in the fourth group bonded to the carbon (CH 3 , CF 3 , or C 2 H 5 ). For each of the 48 solvent + selector + analyte systems, selectivity factors are calculated and, when possible, compared to experiment. The docking mode for these proline-based selectors is analyzed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Counter-current chromatography (CCC) is a new, efficient, productive chromatographic technique based on continuous liquid-liquid partition. Recently, it attracted more attention in chiral separation due to its high load capacity, cheap liquid stationary phase and low solvent consumption, when compared to traditional chiral separation techniques. This review presents advances and applications of chiral separation using high-speed CCC in recent years. We summarize the major benefits and the limitations of chiral separation by CCC. We introduce in detail some novel methods, which can improve the resolution of enantiomers and are easily achieved on classical CCC apparatus. We also outline challenges and future perspectives in developing chiral separation by CCC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Lipoxins belong to the family of so-called pro-resolving endogenous lipid mediators which are derived from arachidonic acid and play a key role in the counter-regulation of inflammation. Arachidonic acid is also precursor of multiple pro-inflammatory lipid mediators, such as prostaglandins and leukotrienes, which are simultaneously present in biological compartments. The close structural relationship between several of these lipid mediators and the absence of blank matrix samples enormously complicates the unequivocal identification of these compounds. The determination of lipoxin A4 has been accomplished by chromatographic separation using a C18 reversed phase column and tandem mass spectrometry detection. Samples were liquid–liquid extracted with ethyl acetate before injection. Identification of the analyte was done based on three criteria: retention time, ratio of the m/z transitions and MS/MS spectrum. To avoid false positive results due to endogenous interferences, the extracted samples were re-injected into a chiral Lux Amylose-2 chromatographic column. The authors recommend the use of chiral chromatography in the determination of pro-resolving lipid mediators, together with transition area ratio and fragmentation spectra to improve selectivity for identification and quantitation purposes. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Highlights: [•] The benefit of core–shell particles in chiral separations is assessed on theoretical ground. [•] The predictions were made for either constant retention or constant adsorption strength. [•] The advantage of core–shell particles is not obvious if their packing is not optimized. [•] For well packed beds, core–shell technology provides a slight advantage in chiral separation. [•] The minimum reduced HETP would decrease from 2.0 for classical particles to 1.7. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The enantioselective separations of the chiral oxazaphosphorines (R,S)-ifosfamide (IF), (R,S)-2-N-dechloroethyl-IF (2-DCE-IF) and (R,S)-3-N-dechloroethyl-IF (3-DCE-IF) were achieved on teicoplanin-based chiral stationary phase using isopropanol:methanol (60:40, v/v) as the mobile phase. Computational models of the teicoplanin and teicoplanin aglycon (TAG) chiral selectors were constructed and used in docking experiments to examine the chiral recognition mechanism associated with the observed resolutions. Initial data showed no significant differences between the simulated selector–selectand complexes using teicoplanin and TAG, and the full study was conducted using TAG. The data from the study indicate that hydrophobic interactions arise between the chlorine atom present in the cholorethyl moieties of the oxazaphosphorine molecules and hydrophobic pockets within the TAG basket and that these interactions anchored and positioned the selectands within the selector–selectand complexes. The complexes were stabilized through the formation of a network of hydrogen bond and cation–π interactions, in which the latter involved the phosphorous atom of the phosphoramide moiety and aromatic components of the TAG aglycon basket. The chirality of the oxazaphosphorine molecule determined the number and strength of the stabilizing interactions which resulted in significant differences in the relative mean binding energies between the complexes formed by the (R) and (S) enantiomers of the selectands. These differences were consistent with the observed chromatographic enantioselectivity and suggest a multi-step chrial recognition mechanism involving the tethering of the selectand to the selector followed by conformational adjustments and stabilization of the selectand–selector complex. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Asymmetric allylic alkylation leading to dimethyl [(2E)-1,3-diphenylprop-2-en-1-yl]propanedioate 1 is a privileged reaction which has been considered in more than 800 references from 1985 to early 2012. This paper thus begins with a thorough review of the literature with a particular focus on the way the ee''s and absolute configuration of the prevailing enantiomer were claimed and reported by the authors. In a large majority of articles chiral chromatography is used for ee''s determination. Unfortunately, in too many cases the data, the column or the eluent are not provided. In a significant proportion (5%) the column name is ambiguous. Furthermore, several discrepancies are detected in the assigned order of elution when chiral chromatography data are provided. We therefore decided to firmly establish the chromatographic behavior of the enantiomers of 1, which were obtained from the corresponding racemate by semi-preparative chiral chromatography and their absolute configuration assigned by ECD and VCD spectroscopies. ORD curves show that optical rotation is very weak at 350nm with indication of inversion of the sign at lower wavelengths. It results in a low sensitivity for on line JASCO polarimeter detector. Chiroptical detection was nicely performed by on line JASCO CD detector set at 254nm: (−)-(S)-1 shows a (+)-CD254nm sign. Pure enantiomers of authenticated absolute configuration allowed a safe assignment of the order of elution during HPLC or SFC on major chiral stationary phases. Quite interestingly for practical application, the order of elution is reversed on Chiralpak AD-H and IA on going from hexane/EtOH to hexane/2-PrOH in HPLC or on going from CO2/EtOH (or MeOH) to CO2/2-PrOH in SFC. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The review delivers the analysis of the literature data on adsorption equilibrium in chiral systems. Chiral adsorbents usually comprise several groups of nonselective and enantioselective active sites. Each group may be heterogeneous in itself. A dynamic equilibrium between different conformations of chiral selectors, nonstoichiometric adsorption, and various secondary equilibria also contribute to the complexity of the phenomenon. In this context, the practice of the use and the limitations of the conventional single-site and two-site models of chiral stationary phase were considered. Special attention was given to problems of the interpretation of experimental results and rational approaches to the selection of physically meaningful adsorption models. The effect of chirality on mass transfer kinetics was also considered, although available information is limited and sometimes ambiguous in order to make solid conclusions. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The influence of experimental conditions (temperature, sample volume, mobile-phase composition) on the preparative separation of ibuprofen enantiomers on chiral stationary phase (S,S)-Whelk-O1 with hexane: EtOH eluents modified with acetic acid was studied. It was established that the effects of these factors on the elution profiles were complex with the patterns disturbed by overlap with the systemic peak. The importance of the last factor decreased with increasing alcohol concentration in the mobile phase. The possibility of optimizing the preparative separation with respect to both purity and yield of the target enantiomers was discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Poly-proline chains and derivatives have been recently examined as the basis for new chiral stationary phases in high performance liquid chromatography [1–5]. The selectivity of poly-proline has been measured for peptides with up to ten proline units [1]. In this article, we employ molecular dynamics simulations to examine the interfacial structure and solvation of surface-bound poly-proline chiral selectors. Specifically, we study the interfacial structure of trimethylacetyl-terminated poly-proline chains with three-to-six prolines. The surface includes silanol groups and end-caps, to better capture the characteristics of the stationary phase, and the solvent is either a polar water/methanol or a relatively apolar n-hexane/2-propanol mixture. We begin with a comprehensive ab initio study of the conformers, their energies, and an assessment of conformer flexibility. Force fields have been developed for each poly-proline selector. Molecular dynamics simulations are employed to study the preferred backbone conformations and solvent hydrogen bonding for different poly-proline/solvent interfaces. For triproline, the effect of two different terminal groups, trimethylacetyl and t-butyl carbamate are compared. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In rural parts of South Africa the organochlorine insecticide DDT (1,1,1-trichloro-2,2-bis(p-chlorophenyl)ethane) is still used for malaria vector control where traditional dwellings are sprayed on the inside with small quantities of technical DDT. Since o,p′-DDT may show enantioselective oestrogenicity and biodegradability, it is important to analyse enantiomers of o,p′-DDT and its chiral degradation product, o,p′-DDD, for both health and environmental-forensic considerations. Generally, chiral analysis is performed using heart-cut multidimensional gas chromatography (MDGC) and, more recently, comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography (GC×GC). We developed an off-line gas chromatographic fraction collection (heart-cut) procedure for the selective capturing of the appropriate isomers from a first apolar column, followed by reinjection and separation on a second chiral column. Only the o,p′-isomers of DDT and DDD fractions from the first dimension complex chromatogram (achiral apolar GC column separation) were selectively collected onto a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) multichannel open tubular silicone rubber trap by simply placing the latter device on the flame tip of an inactivated flame ionisation detector (FID). The multichannel trap containing the o,p′-heart-cuts was then thermally desorbed into a GC with time-of-flight mass spectrometry detection (GC–TOFMS) for second dimension enantioselective separation on a chiral column (β-cyclodextrin-based). By selectively capturing only the o,p′-isomers from the complex sample chromatogram, 1D separation of ultra-trace level enantiomers could be achieved on the second chiral column without matrix interference. Here, we present solventless concentration techniques for extraction of DDT from contaminated soil and air, and report enantiomeric fraction (EF) values of o,p′-DDT and o,p′-DDD obtained by a new multidimensional approach for heart-cut gas chromatographic fraction collection for off-line second dimension enantiomeric separation by 1D GC–TOFMS of selected isomers. This multidimensional method is compared to the complementary technique of comprehensive GC×GC–TOFMS using the same enantioselective column, this time as the first dimension of separation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Proline chains have generated considerable interest as a possible basis for new selectors in chiral chromatography. In this article, we employ molecular dynamics simulations to examine the interfacial structure of two diproline chiral selectors, one with a terminal trimethylacetyl group and one with a terminal t-butyl carbamate group. The solvents consist of a relatively apolar n-hexane/2-propanol and a polar water/methanol mixture. We begin with electronic structure calculations for the two chiral selectors to assess the energetics of conformational changes, particularly along the backbone where the amide bonds can alternate between cis and trans conformations. Force fields have been developed for the two selectors, based on these ab initio calculations. Molecular dynamics simulations of the selective interfaces are performed to examine the preferred backbone conformations, as a function of end-group and solvent. The full chiral surface includes the diproline selectors, trimethylsilyl end-caps, and silanol groups. Connection is made with selectivity measurements on these interfaces, where significant differences are observed between these two very similar selectors. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The mass transfer kinetics of alanyl-alanine enantiomers in a column packed with a chiral stationary phase (CSP) ChiroSil RCA(+) was studied by means of the moment method. Methanol–water solutions acidified with sulphuric acid were used as the mobile phase. It was shown that the spreading of peaks in the column was strongly affected by abnormal eddy diffusion. This effect was well described within the framework of the Giddings coupling theory. The comprehensive four-term Giddings equation for eddy diffusion was applied, considering simultaneous contribution of the trans-column, trans-channel, short-range inter-channel, and long-range inter-channel dispersion factors. Through these calculations, a predominant importance of the trans-column flow velocity bias was revealed. Besides eddy diffusion, the adsorption kinetic resistance to mass transfer plays a noticeable role in band broadening, all the other contributions (from longitudinal molecular diffusion, external and intraparticle mass transfer) being of minor significance. A relative importance of the mass transfer kinetics increases correlatively with a growth of the retention factor. Both the retention and kinetics of the adsorption of alanyl-alanine on the CSP in study are enantioselective. The influence of the column pressure on retention as well as corrections required because of this influence are also discussed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The adsorption of the Naproxen enantiomers on the chiral stationary phase (S,S)-Whelk-O1 from methanol–water 80:20 (v/v) solutions modified with the addition of acetic acid or an acetic acid–sodium acetate buffer was studied using elution chromatography. Adsorption was found to be best accounted for by a two-site model assuming different retention mechanisms for the two enantiomers. Under experimental conditions causing a considerable degree of solute dissociation, strong distortion of overloaded band profiles is observed. This phenomenon is explained by the superimposition of the adsorption and the dissociation equilibria. The effect of the buffer composition on the retention is discussed and the results compared with previous ones obtained with the same system. The proposed model explains all the principal features of the adsorption of Naproxen on Whelk-O1 that were found earlier. Moreover this model applies well in a wider range of buffer concentrations, encompassing both the eluents in which solute dissociation is suppressed and those in which dissociation is significant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The natural-like assessment of essential oils is a demanding task due to the growing trend toward adulterations. Usually chiral chromatography was used for this purpose due to the capability of assessing stereospecificity which is directly related to the enzymatic pathways of each plant species. On the other hand, the quality of an essential oil involves also the evaluation of its oxidative state, mainly connected with the age and storage conditions. In fact, some modifications in the chemical profile of the oil can occur if not properly preserved. Alterations of the components due to oxidative reactions lead to the formation of peroxides, endoperoxides and epoxides, such as ascaridole and 1,2,4-trihydroxymenthane, usually present in very low amount, formed by the oxidation of terpinen-4-ol and α-terpinene, respectively. Therefore, in the present research, the quality of Australian Tea Tree oil (Melaleuca alternifolia (Maiden & Betche) Cheel, Myrtaceae) was investigated by means of a multi heart-cut multidimensional gas chromatographic system coupled to a mass spectrometer detector and by conventional enantio-GC. The MDGC system allowed the complete separation of the compounds of interest transferred from the first column to a second dimension based on a different separation mechanism. The MS detector at the end of the second column provided the identification of the peaks with high similarity values because of their high purities after the multidimensional separation. Method validation was carried out, in order to use this procedure for routine application, monitoring the repeatability of 1D retention times and 2D peak areas, LoD and LoQ. Finally, enantiomeric ratios for chiral compounds were established to support quality data obtained. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The adsorption of the Naproxen enantiomers on the Whelk-O1 chiral stationary phase from acidic (0.01M CH3COOH) methanol–water solutions was studied using the frontal analysis method and band profile calculations. The adsorption model that best accounted for these data is one assuming the coexistence of three types of adsorption sites, two of them being enantioselective, associated with the chiral selectors, the third type being the nonselective type of sites associated with residual surface silanol groups. The adsorption equilibrium is influenced by secondary processes that result in variations of the model parameters with the mobile phase composition. Several qualitative correlations between the model parameters and the methanol–water ratio were observed and are discussed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: A biologically active benzophenanthridine alkaloid, 6-methoxydihydrosanguinarine (MS), was isolated from Hylomecon plants. Although enantiomers of MS can be separated by chiral HPLC, its isomers rapidly form a racemic mixture in methanol. The rate constants for the racemization of MS enantiomers were 9.20×10−4 s−1 and 9.95×10−4 s−1 for (+)-MS and (−)-MS, respectively, as determined by dynamic HPLC and chiral chromatography. This unusually rapid racemization may originate from the formation of a stable iminium ion intermediate, sanguinarine. Therefore, the variety of biological activities exhibited by MS may be attributable to a combination of (+)-MS, (−)-MS, and sanguinarine. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The Quantitative Structure Retention Relationship (QSRR) modeling techniques are employed for prediction of retention behavior of chiral secondary alkylaromatic and alkylheterocyclic alcohols, derivatives of 1-phenylethanol, separated on Chiracel OB-H column. Genetic algorithms and neural networks are used to obtain models predicting Retention Order Index (ROI) (R 2 =0.99), selectivity ROIlog α (R 2 =0.93) as well as retention factors (log k) for two types of mobile phases (90/10 and 85/15 n-hexane/isopropanol—R 2 =0.97 and 0.95). Additionally, a model that predicts log k for both mobile phase in function of i-PrOH concentration is developed (R 2 =0.97). HOMO energy turns out to be the most important parameter in description of log k while mixed steric-electrostatic interactions with chiral OH group and furan ring are responsible for the chiral recognition. The models are used to assess the stereoselectivity of ethylbenzene dehydrogenase (EBDH), which catalyzes stereospecific syntheses of the investigated compounds. The high stereoselectivity of the enzyme is confirmed but reversion of EBDH enantioselectivity is predicted to take place in the biosynthesis of 1-[1,1′-biphenyl]-4-ylethanol. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In small-scale SMB units typically set up by a number of HPLC columns connected in series, the volume of the connecting tubing parts and valves may become comparable to the column volume. Therefore, to guarantee proper and satisfying separation results, the introduced extra-column dead volume needs to be considered in the calculations of the operating parameters. In this work, the impact of extra-column dead volume on the separation performance is studied, with the objective to introduce guidelines and rather simple rules to account for it. It is shown, how these results can be used in the frame of the triangle theory to determine operating conditions that allow to achieve the desired separation performance. For the experiments the separation of a racemic mixture of ()-3,5-bis[1-(4-methoxyphenyl)-1-methyl]hepta-3,4-diene-1,6-diyne was carried out. The numerical model used for the simulation describes explicitly the geometric configuration of the HPLC–SMB laboratory unit to take into account the effect of extra-column dead volume. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: A bioanalytical method for determination of eflornithine (DFMO) in 1000μL human plasma has been developed and validated. DFMO and the internal standard (IS) were analysed by liquid chromatography with evaporative light-scattering detection (ELSD). Separation was performed on a Chirobiotic TAG (250mm×4.6mm) column with ethanol (99.5%):0.01mol/L acetic acid-triethylamine buffer at the rate of 25:75% (v/v) with flow rate of 1.0mL/min. For d-DFMO in plasma the inter-assay precision was 6.5% at 75μmol/L, 6.6% at 375μmol/L and 5.8% at 750μmol/L. For l-DFMO in plasma the inter-assay precision was 10.4% at 75μmol/L, 6.5% at 375μmol/L and 5.0% at 750μmol/L. The lower limit of quantification (LLOQ) was determined to 25μmol/L where the precision was 4.3% and 5.7%, respectively. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Objective: : To measure free and protein-bound R- and S-enantiomers of methadone and its major metabolite, 2-ethylidine-1,5-dimethyl-3,3-diphenylpyrrolidine (EDDP) in serum. Methods: : To determine free fraction, samples were filtered using ultrafiltration membranes with a molecular weight cut-off of 10,000 Da and extracted using liquid–liquid extraction. The solvent extract was evaporated and reconstituted in mobile phase for analysis by LC/MS/MS. Total analyte was determined by extracting unfiltered samples. Enantiomeric separation was by chiral chromatography. Results: : LC conditions resulted in baseline separation of R- and S-EDDP, and 85% resolution of methadone enantiomers. Precision of spiked specimens for both R- and S-methadone and R- and S-EDDP was less than 10% at 100 nM, and did not exceed 20% at 10 nM. Conclusions: : Using minimal sample clean-up and a total instrument run-time of 10 min, a rapid, sensitive and highly specific method was developed for quantitation of free and total R- and S-enantiomers of methadone and EDDP. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The application of peptides in chiral separations using techniques such as capillary electrophoresis (CE), electrokinetic capillary chromatography (EKC) and liquid chromatography is the focus of this review. Methods for finding peptide selectors using combinatorial library approaches are discussed, as well as recent advances in the use of peptides as general chiral selectors for electrophoresis and liquid chromatography. One example shows the effectiveness of polymeric dipeptide surfactants as general chiral selectors for electrophoresis. Another example shows the versatility of oligoproline chiral stationary phases, exhibiting resolution for a number of racemic analytes comparable to other well-established chiral stationary phases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chiral preparative chromatography is a technology increasingly used in the pharmaceutical industry to deliver enantiomerically pure drug candidates. A strategy for rapid screening of conditions on polysaccharide chiral stationary phases (CSPs) has been developed with an emphasis on preparative applications. Sample solubility is a major limiting factor in preparative chromatography. Most reported analytical chiral separations on polysaccharide CSPs are with eluent systems consisting of mainly hexane and small amounts of alcohol as a modifier. The intelligent chiral resolution system (ICRS) was developed to emphasize polar solvents as the first choice for eluent systems. Examples of this approach, and details on the screening procedure are presented. Using the system, chiral preparative procedures can be developed for most compounds in approximately 3 hours. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to process molecular chirality by computational methods and to obtain predictions for properties that are influenced by chirality, a fixed-length conformation-dependent chirality code is introduced. The code consists of a set of molecular descriptors representing the chirality of a 3D molecular structure. It includes information about molecular geometry and atomic properties, and can distinguish between enantiomers, even if chirality does not result from chiral centers.The new molecular transform was applied to two datasets of chiral compounds, each of them containing pairs of enantiomers that had been separated by chiral chromatography. The elution order within each pair of isomers was predicted by means of Kohonen neural networks (NN) using the chirality codes as input. A previously described conformation-independent chirality code was also applied and the results were compared.In both applications clustering of the two classes of enantiomers (first eluted and last eluted enantiomers) could be successfully achieved by NN and accurate predictions could be obtained for independent test sets. The chirality code described here has a potential for a broad range of applications from stereoselective reactions to analytical chemistry and to the study of biological activity of chiral compounds. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The importance of chirality in drug development is unquestionable, with chiral liquid chromatography (LC) being the most adequate technique for its analysis. Among the various types of chiral stationary phases (CSPs) for LC, brush-type CSPs provide the base for interaction analysis of CSPs and enantiomers, which provide valuable results that can be applied to interaction studies of other CSP types. In order to analyze the influence of aromatic interactions in chiral recognition, we designed a set of ten new brush-type CSPs based on (S)-N-(1-aryl-propyl)-3,5-dinitrobenzamides which differ in the aromatic unit directly linked to the chiral center. Thirty diverse racemates, including several nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and 3-hydroxybenzodiazepine drugs, were used to evaluate the prepared CSPs. Chromatographic analysis showed that the three new CSPs separate enantiomers of a wide range of compounds and their chromatographic behavior is comparable to the most versatile brush-type CSP—Whelk-O1. The critical role of the nonbonding interactions in positioning of the analyte (naproxen) in the cleft of CSP-6, as well as the analysis of interactions that make enantioseparation possible, were elucidated using computational methods. Furthermore, the influence of acetic acid as a mobile phase additive, on this enantiorecognition process was corroborated by calculations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]