KNAUER introduces new columns and screening service for enantioseparation of chiral substances

KNAUER introduces three new chiral stationary phases (CSPs), that are typically applied in production or quality control of pharmaceuticals with chiral active ingredients. To select the optimal chiral column the Berlin based lab instruments manufacturer also offers a screening service.

Whenever a separation of enantiomers is desired, classical HPLC columns like C18 are usually not suitable, because the molecules don’t differ in physical properties except for their geometry. A chiral stationary phase prefers the passage of one enantiomer and penalizes the passage of the other, due to the molecular geometry of the surface modification called chiral selector. These enantioselective columns are often an indispensable purification tool in pharmaceutical production processes, since the synthesis of active ingredients is not always enantioselective enough to get just the desired enantiomer. This is important, because two enantiomers of an active ingredient are likely to have different physiological effects, which is why only the one with the desired effect is allowed in today’s pharmaceuticals.

Eurospher^® II Chiral columns for analytical and preparative liquid chromatography are available in three modifications that cover most enantioseparation tasks. Eurospher II Chiral AM and OM are polysaccharide chiral stationary phases, consisting of a silica base, coated with a chiral selector. The chiral selector is amylose-tris-(3,5-dimethylphenylcarbamate) for the Eurospher II Chiral AM material and cellulose-tris-(3,5-dimethylphenylcarbamate) for Eurospher II Chiral OM.

Both these CSPs cover a very broad range of chiral separation tasks, but are relatively delicate, because the selector is just a coating. For example, some solvents that are typically used in other HPLC separations must be avoided completely.

The third phase, Eurospher II Chiral NR, is much more stable, because it is an immobilized brush-type phase. This stability and its very high capacity make the NR phase very well-suited for preparative applications. At the same time, Eurospher II Chiral NR is not as versatile as its polysaccharide companions. The three chiral LC phases are available for normal phase (NP) and reversed phase (RP) mode.

As most chiral separations are not predictable, KNAUER offers a screening service to find the best matching CSP for the customer’s chiral separation task in normal phase mode.

To promote the new chiral phases, KNAUER is offering this screening service at no charge until the end of 2019.