Ricerc@Sapienza

Chromatography on chiral stationary phases has been recently used as an additional tool for the study of internal molecular dynamics of a range of stereochemically labile organic compounds and for the determination of kinetic parameters of the reversible isomerization of one enantiomer into the other occurring during chromatography [enantio- and diastereoselective dynamic chromatography (DC)].

The separation of enantiomers has been started in the past and continues to be a topic of great interest in various fields of research, mainly because these compounds could be involved in biological processes such as, for example, those related to human health. Great attention has been devoted to studies for the analysis of enantiomers present in food products in order to assess authenticity and safety.

This work deals with the potentiality of nano liquid chromatography (Nano-LC) for the chiral separation of racemic mixture of tryptophan and some selected derivatives by using 100 µm i.d. fused silica capillary packed with teicoplanin bonded to 5 µm diol silica stationary phase. The experiments were carried out by using a cheap and laboratory-assembled nano-LC–UV system. Elution was done in an isocratic mode using a polar organic mobile phase.

The increasing interest for obtaining pure, single enantiomers of chiral organic compounds has greatly expanded the progress of new synthetic procedures, especially in the field of chiral drugs, agrochemicals, flavors, and natural products. A parallel trend has been observed in the development of stereoselective separation methods for the precise and accurate measurements of the enantiomeric purity of chiral compounds.

The ever-increasing need for enantiomerically pure chiral compounds has greatly expanded the number of enantioselective separation methods available for the precise and accurate measurements of the enantiomeric purity. The introduction of chiral stationary phases for liquid chromatography in the last decades has revolutionized the routine methods to determine enantiomeric purity of chiral drugs, agrochemicals, fragrances, and in general of organic and organometallic compounds.