Indirect chiral separation and analyses in human biological fluids of the stereoisomers of a thienothiopyran-2-sulfonamide (TRUSOPT), a novel carbonic anhydrase inhibitor with two chiral centers in the molecule.

The indirect chiral separation of the four stereoisomers (1)-(4) of a novel carbonic anhydrase inhibitor with two chiral centers in the molecule is reported. The method is based on chemical derivatization of the secondary amino group of the inhibitor with chiral isocyanate, formation of diastereomeric urea derivatives, each with three chiral centers in the molecule, and their separation under nonchiral HPLC conditions. The attempts to separate racemic mixture (1) + (2) from its diastereomeric counterpart (3) + (4) under nonchiral conditions, and to separate enantiomers (1) and (2) directly on a chiral stationary phase (CSP) are also reported. The indirect method was utilized for the assessment of an in vivo inversion of configuration at either one or both chiral centers of the molecule of (1). Analyses of selected whole blood and urine samples from human subjects after multiple bilateral topical ocular dosing with (1) did not reveal the presence of any of the three possible stereoisomers (2)-(4) of (1) indicating that the inversion of configuration at neither one nor two chiral centers of (1) occurs in vivo.     

Development of a nonchiral HPLC method with circular dichroism detection for chiral analysis of molybdenum-catalyzed enantioselective synthesis products

The combination of a circular dichroism detector and nonchiral liquid chromatography was used for the chiral analysis of unresolved enantiomers to determine the enantioselectivity of a molybdenum-catalyzed asymmetric allylic alkylation reaction. The CD/UV peak area ratio of the unresolved enantiomers was calculated and compared with that of a reference standard to determine the enantiomeric purity. The limit of quantitation (LOQ) is 20 ng for the chiral ligand and 1 microg for the branched chiral product. The viability of the system depends on the limit of quantitation of the CD response and the linearity range of the CD and UV response.     

Experimental and computational studies of enantioseparation of structurally similar chiral compounds on amylose tris(3,5‐dimethylphenylcarbamate)

The enantioseparation of 14 structurally similar chiral solutes, with one or two chiral centers, are studied for a commercially important polysaccharide‐based chiral stationary phase, amylose tris(3,5‐dimethylphenylcarbamate) (ADMPC). Among these solutes, only two solutes show significant enantioresolutions of 2 to 2.5 in n‐hexane/2‐propanol (90/10, v/v) at 298 K. The retention factors of the chiral solutes vary significantly from 0.7 to 7.0, and they are compared with those of simpler nonchiral solutes having similar but fewer functional groups. The sorbent–solute H‐bonding interactions between the solute functional groups and the polymer C?O and NH functional groups are probed with attenuated total reflection infrared spectroscopy (ATR‐IR). The H‐bonding interactions of the polymer C?O and NH groups with the solutes result in changes in the IR amide band wavenumbers of ADMPC upon solute adsorption. The nanostructure of an ADMPC cavity and the potential interactions with the chiral solutes are proposed based on the sorbent–solute–solvent HPLC data, the sorbent–solute IR data, and the sorbent–solute molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The results are consistent with the three point attachment hypothesis and indicate that a significant enantioresolution in ADMPC requires at least three different interaction sites for simultaneous H‐bonds and phenyl–phenyl interactions for phenylpropylamine (PPA) and various structurally similar chiral solutes. Chirality 2010. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Intermolecular chiral assemblies in R(-) and S(+) 2-butanol detected by microcalorimetry measurements

Supramolecular chiral assemblies of R(-) and S(+) 2-butanol, in their neat form or when dissolved in their nonchiral isomer isobutanol, were evaluated by isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) ensuing mixing. Dilution of 0.5 M solution of R(-) 2-butanol in isobutanol into the latter liberated heat of several calories per mole, which was approximately double than that obtained in parallel dilutions of S(+) 2-butanol in isobutanol. The ITC dilution profiles indicated an estimate of about 100 isobutanol solvent molecules surrounding each of the 2-butanol enantiomers, presumably arranged in chiral configurations, with different adopted order between the isomers. Mixings of neat R and S 2-butanol were followed by endothermic ITC profiles, indicating that, in racemic 2-butanol, both the supramolecular order and the intermolecular binding energies are lower than in each of the neat chiral isomers. The diversion from symmetrical ITC patterns in these mixings indicated again a subtle difference in molecular organization between the neat enantiomers. It should be noted that the presence of impurities, α-pinene and teterhydrofuran, at a level totaling 0.5%, did not influence the ITC heat flow profiles. The findings of this study demonstrate for the first time that chiral solutes in organic solvents are expected to acquire asymmetric solvent envelopes that may be different between the enantiomers, thus broadening this phenomenon beyond the previously demonstrated cases in aqueous solutions.     

Structure and mode of action of the membrane-permeabilizing antimicrobial peptide pheromone plantaricin A

The three-dimensional structure in dodecyl phosphocholine micelles of the 26-mer membrane-permeabilizing bacteriocin-like pheromone plantaricin A (PlnA) has been determined by use of nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. The peptide was unstructured in water but became partly structured upon exposure to micelles. An amphiphilic alpha-helix stretching from residue 12 to 21 (possibly also including residues 22 and 23) was then formed in the C-terminal part of the peptide, whereas the N-terminal part remained largely unstructured. PlnA exerted its membrane-permeabilizing antimicrobial activity through a nonchiral interaction with the target cell membrane because the d-enantiomeric form had the same activity as the natural l-form. This nonchiral interaction involved the amphiphilic alpha-helical region in the C-terminal half of PlnA because a 17-mer fragment that contains the amphiphilic alpha-helical part of the peptide had antimicrobial potency that was similar to that of the l- and d-enantiomeric forms of PlnA. Also the pheromone activity of PlnA depended on this nonchiral interaction because both the l- and d-enantiomeric forms of the 17-mer fragment inhibited the pheromone activity. The pheromone activity also involved, however, a chiral interaction between the N-terminal part of PlnA and its receptor because high concentrations of the l-form (but not the d-form) of a 5-mer fragment derived from the N-terminal part of PlnA had pheromone activity. The results thus reveal a novel mechanism whereby peptide pheromones such as PlnA may function. An initial nonchiral interaction with membrane lipids induces alpha-helical structuring in a segment of the peptide pheromone. The peptide becomes thereby sufficiently structured and properly positioned in the membrane interface, thus enabling it to engage in a chiral interaction with its receptor in or near the membrane water interface. This membrane-interacting mode of action explains why some peptide pheromones/hormones such as PlnA sometimes display antimicrobial activity in addition to their pheromone activity.     

An eutomer/distomer ratio near unity does not justify non-enantiospecific assay methods in bioequivalence studies

The aim of the present investigation was to compare the pharmacokinetics of two tablet formulations of 600 mg of racemic ibuprofen obtained using enantiospecific and non-enantiospecific assays, in order to explore if chiral assays should be employed in bioequivalence studies of chiral active substances. The stereoselective assay showed that, for both formulations, there was an initial phase where (R)-ibuprofen was the predominant enantiomer followed by a final phase where (S)-ibuprofen was the predominant one. Results from both analytical methods proved that the two formulations were bioequivalent. However, the chiral bioanalytical method detected a larger difference in the eutomer than that showed by the nonchiral bioanalytical method. In conclusion, although the exposure ratios of enantiomers are near unity, the measurement of unresolved ibuprofen alone is not an adequate measure of bioequivalence since it may mask the actual difference in the eutomer exposure among formulations.     

Separation of amino acid enantiomers by micelle-enhanced ultrafiltration

A Micelle-enhanced ultrafiltration (MEUF) separation process was investigated that can potentially be used for large-scale enantioseparations. Copper(II)-amino acid derivatives dissolved in nonionic surfactant micelles were used as chiral selectors for the separation of dilute racemic amino acids solutions. For the alpha-amino acids phenylalanine, phenylglycine, O-methyltyrosine, isoleucine, and leucine good separation was obtained using cholesteryl L-glutamate and Cu(II) ions as chiral selector with an operational enantioselectivity (alpha(op)) up to 14.5 for phenylglycine. From a wide set of substrates, including four beta-amino acids, it was concluded that the performance of this system is determined by two factors: the hydrophobicity of the racemic amino acid, which results in a partitioning of the racemic amino acid over micelle and aqueous solution, and the stability of the diastereomeric complex formed upon binding of the amino acid with the chiral selector. The chiral hydrophobic cholesteryl anchor of the chiral selector also plays an active role in the recognition process, since inversion of the chirality of the glutamate does not yield the reciprocal enantioselectivities. However, if the cholesteryl group is replaced by a nonchiral alkyl chain, reciprocal operational enantioselectivities are found with enantiomeric glutamate selectors.     

Control of asymmetric induction in the organometallic synthesis of 3-methyl-(E)-4-hexen-2-one

Bis(μ-methyl-1,3-dimethyl-η³-allylnickel) reacts in the presence of phosphorus(III) ligands (phosphines, phosphites) with CO to give 3-methyl-(E)-4-hexen-2-one. Systematic experiments were performed using chiral ligands containing menthyl or menthoxy groups and different achiral groups on the P atom to determine the influence of ligand structure and concentration on the direction and extent of chiral induction in this ketone synthesis. It could be shown that reversion of enantioselectivity can be obtained not only by the obvious method of reversing the absolute configuration of the ligand (“parity control”) but also by modifying the nonchiral substituents of the phosphorus ligand (“complementarity control”). The synthesis, physical, and spectroscopic properties of several new menthyl phosphines and phosphites are reported.     

An analysis of circular intensity differential scattering measurements: studies on the sperm cell of Eledone cirrhosa

This study represents the first systematic attempt to characterize the possible sources of artifacts that can interfere with the measurement of circular intensity differential scattering (CIDS) as a function of the scattering angle. A theoretical analysis of the effect of imperfect incident circular polarizations in the measurement of baselines from nonchiral scatterers and in the signals from chiral samples is derived. From this analysis the requirements of the tolerance on the quality of the incident circular polarizations to unequivocally measure the CIDS effect are established. The protocol for alignment of the CIDS instrument and the characterization of the incident polarizations utilized in these studies are described in detail. CIDS measurements on suspensions of helical sperm cells are presented. The experimental results are modeled computationally with the use of the current CIDS theory. Good agreement between the data and the computations is obtained. The results clearly indicate the ability of CIDS to provide information on the long-range chiral organization of samples in solution.     

Sugar derived hexacoordinated phosphates: chiral anionic auxiliaries with general asymmetric efficiency

Mannose-derived hexacoordinated phosphate anions, prepared in as few as two steps from methyl-alpha-D-mannopyranoside and tris(dimethylamino)phosphine, are chiral anionic auxiliaries with broad asymmetric efficiency. These chemically robust anions are effective NMR chiral solvating agents and efficient asymmetry-inducers, able to control the configuration of conformationally labile C2-symmetric monomethinium cations (organic, helical, charge 1+, P or M enantiomers) and D3-symmetric iron(II) trisdiimine complexes (metallo-organic, octahedral, charge 2+, Delta or Lambda enantiomers). Diastereomeric control with often unmatched selective levels was achieved with the help of mannopyranoside backbone of the anions and the substituents on the [1,3]dioxane ring that play a key role in the recognition process, something not obvious at first sight.     

Stereospecificity and stereoselectivity of flobufen metabolic profile in male rats in vitro and in vivo: phase I of biotransformation.

Flobufen (F) is the original nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drug (NSAID) containing two enantiomers. The aim of this investigation was to elucidate the biotransformation pathway of F at chiral level in phase I of biotransformation. Stereoselectivity and stereospecificity of the respective enzymes were studied in male rats in vitro (microsomal and cytosolic fractions, hepatocytes suspension) and in vivo. The rac-F, (+)-R-F and (-)-S-F were used as substrates. Amounts of F enantiomers, 4-dihydroflobufen diastereoisomers (DHF) and other metabolites (M-17203, UM) were determined with a chiral HPLC method in two chromatographic runs on R,R-ULMO and allyl-terguride bonded columns. Stereoselective biotransformation of the two enantiomers of F was observed at all tested levels and significant bidirectional chiral inversion of enantiomers of F was observed in hepatocytes. Mean enantiomeric ratios of F concentrations (S-/R-), after rac-F incubations, ranging from 1.09 in cytosolic fraction to 18.23 in hepatocytes. Stereospecificity of the respective F reductases was also observed. (2R;4S)-DHF and (2S;4S)-DHF are the principal metabolites of F in microsomes and hepatocytes. Neither DHF diastereoisomers nor M-17203 were found in cytosolic fraction. Only the nonchiral metabolite, M-17203, was found in all urine and feces samples after oral administration of F.     

New chiral imidazolium ionic liquids from isomannide

New chiral bis and mono-imidazolium ionic liquids derived from isomannide were synthesized. The structural features of the chiral organic cations impart a special arrangement of the chiral cavity. The new chiral chloride salts of isomannide derivatives are pivotal compounds for the synthesis of different organic ionic liquids. After metathesis different anions were associated to the chiral cations providing a new class of chiral ionic liquids.     

Preparative separation of nebivolol isomers by improved throughput reverse phase tandem two column chromatography

Development of preparative methods for the isolation of chiral molecules has been considered challenging by conventional unit operations due to their identical physical and chemical properties. This has evolved chiral stationary phases for the separation of chiral components using chromatography technique. However, separation method using chiral adsorbents requires high pressure, are expensive, and have low productivity. Generation of bulk quantities purified nebivolols using the available high pressure chiral separation methods is impractical and operating cost-intensive. Thus, there is a need to develop economical methods using nonchiral adsorbents for the purification of nebivolols or similar active ingredients. The present work demonstrates a unique and scalable tandem two-column method for the separation of isomers of nebivolol using inexpensive reverse phase adsorbents. The first column of the scheme causes removal of charged and nonisomeric impurities whereas tandem operation of second column increases resolution of d-nebivolol and l-nebivolol. The maximization of separation due to tandem operation of second column causes enhancement of the throughput of the process. The developed preparative process produces >98% purity of both d-nebivolol and l-nebivolol with overall loading capacity of 56 g (L of adsorbent)⁻¹ and productivity of 20 g L⁻¹ day⁻¹.     

Ultraviolet, circular dichroism, fluorescence, and circularly polarized luminescence spectra of regioregular poly-[3-((s)-2-methylbutyl)-thiophene] in solution

Ultraviolet (UV), Circular Dichroism (CD), Fluorescence, and Circularly Polarized Luminescence (CPL) spectra were recorded for mixed chloroform/methanol and chloroform/butanol solutions of regioregular poly[3-((S)-2-methylbutyl)-thiophene]. An evaluation of the chiral and nonchiral components in solution is proposed on the basis of the UV and CD spectra. The fluorescence and CPL spectra are observed in a wavelength range where some UV and CD activity still appears. For this reason, the observed CPL features are strongly influenced by CD. A general procedure for evaluating true CPL spectra is proposed, when absorption and emission coexist. Chirality 24:725-730, 2012. ? 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Dicationic alkylammonium bromide gemini surfactants. Membrane perturbation and skin irritation

Dicationic alkylammonium bromide gemini surfactants represent a class of amphiphiles potentially effective as skin permeation enhancers. However, only a limited number of studies has been dedicated to the evaluation of the respective cytotoxicity, and none directed to skin irritation endpoints. Supported on a cell viability study, the cytotoxicity of gemini surfactants of variable tail and spacer length was assessed. For this purpose, keratinocyte cells from human skin (NCTC 2544 cell line), frequently used as a model for skin irritation, were employed. The impact of the different gemini surfactants on the permeability and morphology of model vesicles was additionally investigated by measuring the leakage of calcein fluorescent dye and analyzing the NMR spectra of 31P, respectively. Detail on the interaction of gemini molecules with model membranes was also provided by a systematic differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and molecular dynamics (MD) simulation. An irreversible impact on the viability of the NCTC 2544 cell line was observed for gemini concentrations higher than 25 mM, while no cytotoxicity was found for any of the surfactants in a concentration range up to 10 mM. A higher cytotoxicity was also found for gemini surfactants presenting longer spacer and shorter tails. The same trend was obtained in the calorimetric and permeability studies, with the gemini of longest spacer promoting the highest degree of membrane destabilization. Additional structural and dynamical characterization of the various systems, obtained by 31P NMR and MD, provide some insight on the relationship between the architecture of gemini surfactants and the respective perturbation mechanism.     

Reliable assay of extreme enantiomeric purity values by a new circular dichroism based HPLC detection system

A new sensitive, selective, and versatile circular dichroism (CD)-based HPLC detection system was used for the validation of the enantiomeric purity assay in the quality control of chiral drugs upon nonchiral stationary phases. The precision and the accuracy of the method were checked for selected samples showing values of the anisotropy factor on the order of 10(-1) to 10(-4). Very high accuracy has been obtained also in the case of extreme enantiomeric purity values (/=99% e.p.) and of a low anisotropy factor (g = 2 x 10(-4)) compound. The high selectivity of this detection system allows a selective monitoring of analytes in complex mixtures and makes the baseline stable.     

Excavations in drug chirality: 1. Cyclothiazide

There is a great deal of current interest in the role and importance of chirality in the development of new drugs, but little attention is being paid to the stereochemistry of older drugs. Indeed, many older chiral drugs were introduced without adequate information on their stereochemical identity or composition. We have examined one such drug, the antihypertensive diuretic agent cyclothiazide. Standard sources of drug information and the research literature do not provide data on the stereochemical composition of clinically used cyclothiazide, although scattered reports indicate that the drug may consist of "several stereoisomers." Inspection of the chemical structure of the drug, 6-chloro-3,4-dihydro-3-(5-norbornen-2-yl)-2H-1,2,4-benzothiadiazin e-7- sulfonamide 1,1-dioxide, shows that it can exist as eight stereoisomers that may form four racemates. Using synthesis, fast-atom-bombardment mass spectrometry, gas-liquid chromatography, chiral and nonchiral high-performance liquid chromatography, and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, we determined that pharmaceutical cyclothiazide is in fact a mixture of the eight stereoisomers in the form of the four racemates. The two racemates with endo configuration at the norbornene moiety predominate over the exo racemates, and small but significant differences in isomer distribution between different batches of the drug were observed. We urge that in studies of older drugs the stereochemical details be considered.     

Emerging subject for chiral separation science: cluster boron compounds

The structural chirality is an inherent feature of fully synthetic boron cluster compounds that sometimes exhibit unique biochemical effects. HPLC studies with zwitter-ionic cluster boron compounds and electrophoretic studies with boron cluster anions reveal that the chiral separability of these species is remarkably dissimilar to that of organic species, if uncharged cyclodextrins are used as chiral selectors. Furthermore, marked differences were found between the analytical characteristics of the chiral separations of the boron cluster species and those of the organic species with uncharged cyclodextrins. The present-day experimental database indicates that the rules valid for the chiral separations of the organic species cannot be applied to the chiral separations of the boron cluster species without experimental verification. The current extent of research work devoted to the investigation of chirality and chiral separations of boron cluster species is negligibly small in comparison with that devoted to the investigation of chirality and chiral separations of organic species. This makes difficult a reliable explanation of both the particularities observed in chiral separations of boron cluster species with cyclodextrins as chiral selectors and the strange effects related to these separations at the moment.     

Calcitriol derivatives with two different side chains at C-20. 24-hydroxy derivatives as metabolic products and molecular probes for VDR exploration

We previously synthesized calcitriol derivatives with two identical side chains emanating at C-20, also known as gemini. In view of the evidence identifying C-24 hydroxylation as the first step in the in the metabolic cascade of calcitriol and gemini, stereochemical differentiation between the possible epimeric 20R- and 20S side-chain hydroxylated gemini became of interest. We now report the stereoselective synthesis of these compounds. Of these, 1,24(R),25-trihydroxy-21-(3-hydroxy-3-methyl-butyl)-20(R)-19-nor-cholecalciferol was identified as the main metabolic product of 19-nor-gemini. In general, higher doses of the 24-hydroxylated gemini compounds were required to increase blood calcium levels in mice and to suppress INF-gamma release in MLR.