Assignment of absolute configuration and optical purity determination of (R)- and (S)-econazole nitrate by enantioselective HPLC: Method development and application

A method is described for the synthesis and optical purity determination of (?)-(R)- and (+)-(S)-econazole via the optically pure intermediates, (R)- and (S)-imidazolylethanol, which are available by chromatographic resolution or by fractional crystallization of diastereomeric O,O′-disubstituted (R*;R*)- or (S*;S*)-tartaric acid monoesters of the parent imidazolylethanol racemate. Furthermore, this method allows the chromatographic assignment of the absolute configuration of the chiral center of the imidazolylethanol enantiomers and consequently of econazole enantiomers. In addition, a direct liquid chromatographic enantioseparation method for the determination of the optical purity of (R)- and (S)-econazole and other chiral imidazoles on a protein type CSP (OVM) is described and applied to confirm chromatographically the absolute configuration evaluations. © 1994 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Synthesis and absolute configuration of optically pure enantiomers of a kappa-opioid receptor selective agonist

The enantiomers of U50,488, ligands highly selective for kappa-opioid receptors, have been prepared by a refined procedure and their optical purity demonstrated. The absolute configuration of (+)-trans-2-pyrrolidinyl-N-methylcyclohexylamine, a chemically versatile intermediate for synthesis of analogs of kappa-opioid receptor ligands with defined chirality, has been determined to be 1S,2S by X-ray crystallographic analysis. This intermediate has been used to synthesize the optically pure U50,488 enantiomers with known absolute configuration.     

Method for determination of optical purity of 2‐arylpropanoic acids using urea derivatives based on a 1,1′‐binaphthalene skeleton as chiral NMR solvating agents: Advantages and limitations thereof

Five optically active urea derivatives ( 1 ‐ 5 ) were used as NMR solvating agents for analysis of the optical purity of different 2‐arylpropanoic acids commonly used as nonsteroidal anti‐inflammatory drugs. These novel chiral solvating agents were more efficient at discriminating the respective enantiomers of targets than the chiral solvating agents known so far, without the need to add a base for achieving the signal splitting. The advantages and limits of the use of these novel chiral solvating agents were studied.     

Dynamic kinetic resolutions and asymmetric transformations by enzymes coupled with metal catalysis

The combination of enzyme and metal catalysis is described as a useful method for the synthesis of optically active compounds. A key feature of this new methodology is the use of metal catalysts for the in situ racemization of enzymatically unreactive enantiomers in the enzymatic resolution of racemic substrates. So far, two combinations - lipase-ruthenium and lipase-palladium - have been developed for the efficient dynamic kinetic resolution of alcohols and amines. The use of these combinations has also been extended to catalysis of the asymmetric transformation of ketones, their enol acetates, and ketoximes. In most cases, enzyme-metal combination catalysis has provided good yields and high optical purities.     

Enantioselectivity of the Bioconversion of Chiral Citronellal during the Inhibition of Wheat Seeds Germination

Citronellal is one of the most prominent monoterpenes present in many essential oils. Low persistence of essential oils as bioherbicides has often been addressed because of the high volatility of these compounds. Bioconversion of citronellal by wheat seeds releases less aggressive and injurious compounds as demonstrated by their diminished germination. We demonstrated that optically pure citronellal enantiomers were reduced to optically pure citronellol enantiomers with retention of the configuration both in isolated wheat embryos and endosperms. Our findings reveal the potential of essential oils as allelopathic agents providing an insight into their mechanism of action and persistence.     

Chiral purity determination of tobacco alkaloids and nicotine-like compounds by 1H NMR spectroscopy in the presence of 1,1′-binaphthyl-2,2′-diylphosphoric acid

The enantiomeric purity of several tobacco alkaloids and nicotine-like compounds was determined using ¹H NMR (300 MHz) spectroscopy in the presence of (-)-(R)-1,1′binaphthyl-2,2′-diylphosphoric acid (BNPPA) as a chiral complexing agent. The most significant signal splitting resulting from diastereoisomeric complexation are seen for chemical shifts in the proximity of the pyridinyl nitrogen. Chemical shift data exclude any contribution of the pyrrolidinyl protons to chiral recognition, but when the pyrrolidine ring is replaced by a piperidine ring, i.e., for compounds such as rac-anabasine and rac-anatabine, non-equivalence between enantiomers was observed for protons close to the piperidine ring. A new approach for the preparation of the pure (-)-(S)-and (+)-(R)-enantiomers of nornicotine, a tobacco alkaloid and metabolite of nicotine, was developed. The optically pure enantiomers thus obtained were used to establish the minimum sensitivity of the NMR spectroscopic method of chiral analysis. These findings provide a new, general, and facile method for the determination of enantiomeric purity of tobacco alkaloids and nicotine-like compounds. © 1996 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Synthesis of an unsaturated mixed-acid phosphatidylinositol of natural configuration. A new procedure for resolving racemic alcohols

DL-1,2,4,5,6-Penta-O-acetyl-myo-inositol was resolved into antipodes through the salts of its acid oxalate with quinidine and (?)-α-phenethylamine. The optically active pentaacetates were regenerated from the oxalates by lead tetraacetate oxidation. The optical purity of these pentaacetates was confirmed by their transformation into optically pure 1D- and 1L-myo-inositol 1-phosphates. The 1D-isomer of the pentaacetate was used as starting compound for the synthesis of a mixed acid phosphatidylinositol having the natural configuration at all the asymmetric centres and the normally predominating 1-saturated 2-unsaturated distribution of the fatty acid residues. From the 1L-pentaacetate an isomer of phosphatidylinositol with the unnatural 1L-configuration of the myo-inositol residue has been obtained.     

Large-scale preparation of (+)-disparlure,the gypsy moth pheromone,by a practical chemico-enzymatic procedure

The Sharpless asymmetric epoxidation of 8-methyl-2-nonen-1-ol performed on a large scale (over 5 moles) at room temperature gave (2S, 3R)-2, 3-epoxy-8-methyl-1-nonanol with 52%ee. The produced epoxy alcohol of low optical purity was subjected to lipase-catalyzed enatioselective acylation in order to increase the optical purity up to 85%ee. Recrystalyzation of the corresponding 3, 5-dinitrobenzoate gave optically pure epoxy alcohol. (+)-Disparlure, the gypsy moth pheromone, was synthesized in two steps from the thus obtained optically pure epoxy alcohol.     

Simultaneous preparation of both enantiomers of juvenile hormones labeled at C-10 with tritium at high specific activity

We report an improved method for the synthesis of high specific activity insect [10-(3)H]juvenile hormones (JH) I, II, and III which affords both enantiomers of each in high optical purity. A synthetic route for JH I was modified to give higher yields and purity. We increased the specific activity of the synthetic [10-(3)H]JHs using normal phase liquid chromatography optimized to give near baseline resolution of [10-(3)H]JHs and unlabeled JHs. Racemic [10-(3)H]JHs and their corresponding diol metabolites were enantiomerically separated using a chiral column eluted with 2-propanol:hexane. Acidic hydration of the unnatural antipode of the [10-(3)H]JHs gives the diol antipode with the same stereochemistry as that from epoxide hydrolase action on the natural JH antipode. The [10-(3)H]JH diol enantiomers can also be resolved with the same chiral column using a more polar solvent. The synthesis of high specific activity chiral ethyl ester analogs of JH I and II can also be accomplished using this synthetic route.     

Solid phase synthesis and biological evaluation of enantiomerically pure wasp toxin analogues PhTX-343 and PhTX-12

PhTX-343 and PhTX-12, analogues of the natural polyamine wasp toxin PhTX-433, were synthesised in 40-60% yields as pure enantiomers using solid phase synthesis techniques. Capillary electrophoresis procedures were developed for chiral separation and determination of enantiomeric purity (ee) of the enantiomers of PhTX-343 and PhTX-12. The methods were optimised with respect to chiral selector, buffer pH, and temperature around the capillary. Thus, rac-PhTX-343 was resolved using a separation buffer containing 30 mM heptakis-(2, 6-di-O-methyl)-beta-cyclodextrin in 50 mM 6-aminocarproic acid (pH 4. 0) at 15 degrees C. rac-PhTX-12 was not resolvable in this system, but could be resolved using a separation buffer containing 10% w/v of dextrin 10, a linear maltodextrin, in 50 mM 6-aminocaproic acid (pH 4.0) at 15 degrees C. Using these methods, the optical purity of the synthetic enantiomers was determined to be ee > 99%. The enantiomers were also characterised by chiroptical methods. The antagonist potency of the enantiomers was tested on nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (human muscle-type nAChR) expressed in TE671 cells, ionotropic glutamate receptors in Xenopus laevis oocytes (expressing recombinant GluR1flop receptors), and locust muscle ionotropic glutamate receptors sensitive to quisqualate (qGluR). The potencies of each pair of enantiomers were similar (eudismic ratio close to 1).     

Stereoselective crystallization induced by traces of dissolved optically active impurities

Isothermal crystallization of D,L-sodium-ammonium tartrate with traces of different impurities admixed shows that the added chiral contaminations produce a preferential crystallization of the tartrate isomer of same handedness. The critical lowest concentration of effective seeding agents is 0.1-0.5%. 1% optically active excess material induces 1.0-3.6% optical purity in the deposited crystals. An analysis of the relevant data reported so far gives similar figures in different crystallization systems. The relation of the results to the suggested lattice energy difference between enantiomers is discussed.     

Stereoselectivity at alpha-adrenoreceptor subtypes: observations with the enantiomers of WB 4101 separated through their amides of N-tosyl-(S)-proline.

We present a chromatographic method for the separation and determination of the optical purity of the enantiomers of WB 4101 [(+/-)-1], one of the most potent and selective alpha 1-adrenoreceptor antagonists. (+/-)-1 was converted into the amide of N-tosyl-(S)-proline. The two diastereoisomers were separated on silica gel and analysed by HPLC reversed phase. The analytical method described is both accurate and sensitive and allows the optical purity to be determined at very low concentrations and to obtain WB 4101 enantiomers with a purity of more than 99.95%.     

A novel enantioselective synthesis of (S)-(-)- and (R)-(+)-nornicotine via alkylation of a chiral 2-hydroxy-3-pinanone ketimine template

An asymmetric synthesis of the optically pure isomers of the minor tobacco alkaloid and CNS nicotine metabolite, nornicotine, has been achieved with moderately high optical purity. The synthetic pathway involves alkylation of a chiral ketimine, prepared from either 1R,2R,5R-(+)- or 1S,2S,5S-(-)-2-hydroxy-3-pinanone and 3-(aminomethyl)pyridine with 3-bromopropan-1-ol. After cleavage of the respective C-alkylated ketimines with NH2OH.HCl, and treatment of the resulting amino alcohols with HBr, followed by base-catalyzed intramolecular ring closure, (S)-(-)-nornicotine and (R)-(+)-nornicotine were obtained with ee values of 91% and 81%, respectively.     

Improved synthesis and pharmacologic activity of the enantiomers of a new benzofurane type antiarrhythmic compound

An improved synthesis of the enantiomers of the new benzofurane-type antiarrhythmic compound 1 is described, which makes use of the enantiomerically pure mbe-lactol. Thus, acylation of the benzofurane 4 with acetic anhydride and subsequent bromination gave the bromoacetyl-derivative 6 , which, after reduction with LiAlH₄, was protected with mbe-lactol to give a mixture of the diastereomers 8A and 8b . After separation via column chromatography assignment of absolute configuration was carried out using a well-established NMR- method. Reaction with propylamine and cleavage of the protective group gave (R)- 1 and (S)- 1 , respectively. Enantiomeric purity was confirmed using a direct HPLC method with rsp-cyclodextrine as stationary phase. Pharmacological investigations on isolated guinea pig heart muscle preparations showed that GE 68 and its two enantiomers did not significantly differ from each other with regard to their negative inotropic, negative chronotropic, and lack of β-adrenoceptor blocking action. In contrast, the reference drug propafenone was equally potent in its negative inotropic and chronotropic activity as GE 68, but additionally showed a weak β-adrenoceptor blocking activity. © 1994 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Application of lipase-catalyzed transformations for the synthesis of insect pheromones and related compounds

This review describes efficient means of preparing optically pure insect pheromones and related compounds via lipase-catalyzed enantioselective reaction on a large scale. (1) A new synthesis of the Japanese beetle pheromone, (R,Z)-(−)-5-(1-decenyl)oxacyclopentan-2-one, established by a combination of two lipase-catalyzed transformation was demonstrated. (2) A chemico-enzymatic procedure for the syntheses of both enantiomers of cupreous chafer beetle pheromone, (R,Z)- and (S,Z)-5-(1-octenyl)oxacyclopentan-2-one, was described. (3) An optical resolution of (±)-2,3-epoxy-8-methyl-1-nonanol, the key intermediate of the synthesis of gypsy moth pheromone, was demonstrated. (4) A practical chemico-enzymatic synthesis of (+)-disparlure in large scale was demonstrated. (5) A facile synthesis of carboxyalkyl acrylate, which is special monomers in the synthesis of the new polymers, by two lipase-catalyzed regioselective reactions was described.     

Chemoenzymatic Preparation of Optically Active Long-Chain 3-Hydroxyalkanoates

The synthesis of optically active 3-hydroxyalkanoates of varying chain length (C_lo, C₁₄ and C₁₈) was investigated using chemoenzymatic methods. While bakers' yeast mediated reduction of 3-oxoalkanoates gave (R)-3-hydroxyalkanoates (e.e. >80%, yield —10%), both enantiomers were obtained by enzymatic resolution of racemic methyl 3-butanoyloxyalkanoates using Geotrichum candidum lipase with moderate to good optical purity (e.e. 32–92%, yield 40–60% for both enantiomers). Lipase-catalysed interesterification, however, was found to proceed with similar enantioselectivity but with slow rate of conversion.     

Release,Regeneration and Mutant Induction of Pleurotus cornucopiae (‘Tamogitake’) Protoplasts

Both enantiomers of aliphatic and aromatic cyanohydrins were hydrolyzed with the aid of Rhodococcus butanica ATCC 21197 to afford optically active α-hydroxy acids. The usefulness of this reaction is demonstrated by the synthesis of optically pure (R)-4-dodecanolide, a defensive secretion of rove beetles, starting from (R)-2-hydroxydecanenitrile.     

Semi-preparative chromatographic purification of the enantiomers S-(−)-amlodipine and R-(+)-amlodipine

Pharmacokinetic studies of optically pure compounds after single enantiomer administration are becoming increasingly important. The process of racemization in vivo can diminish all expected advantages of single enantiomer treatment. Amlodipine, one of the calcium channel blockers, currently used in therapy as a racemate, is one of such drugs under study. In order to administer single enantiomers of amlodipine to healthy volunteers both were chromatographically purified and characterised. The two optical isomers of amlodipine, active S-(−)- and non-active R-(+)-amlodipine, were purified using chromatographic procedure adopted from the analytical separation. Enantiomers were successfully converted to benzenesulphonic salt without any racemization. All semi-preparative purifications were monitored with complementary analytical methods, HPLC and CE, along with the determination of optical activity so that the final product was sufficiently defined for further in vivo studies. The analytical method developed for the determination of plasma concentrations of each enantiomer of amlodipine in these studies is also briefly described.     

Semi-preparative chromatographic purification of the enantiomers S-(−)-amlodipine and R-(+)-amlodipine

Pharmacokinetic studies of optically pure compounds after single enantiomer administration are becoming increasingly important. The process of racemization in vivo can diminish all expected advantages of single enantiomer treatment. Amlodipine, one of the calcium channel blockers, currently used in therapy as a racemate, is one of such drugs under study. In order to administer single enantiomers of amlodipine to healthy volunteers both were chromatographically purified and characterised. The two optical isomers of amlodipine, active S-(−)- and non-active R-(+)-amlodipine, were purified using chromatographic procedure adopted from the analytical separation. Enantiomers were successfully converted to benzenesulphonic salt without any racemization. All semi-preparative purifications were monitored with complementary analytical methods, HPLC and CE, along with the determination of optical activity so that the final product was sufficiently defined for further in vivo studies. The analytical method developed for the determination of plasma concentrations of each enantiomer of amlodipine in these studies is also briefly described.     

Synthesis of Optically Active Cyanohydrins Using R-Oxynitrilase in a Liquid-Liquid Biphasic System: Part 1: An Industrially useful Procedure

An improved method is presented for preparing optically active cyanohydrins in high yield and high enantioselectivity, using R-oxynitrilase from almonds as the catalyst in a biphasic water-organic solvent system. Reaction conditions for two representative substates have been studied with respect to conversion, optical purity and enzyme stability.

The suitability of the procedure for industrial use was substantiated by the possibility of reusing the enzyme-containing aqueous phase for the synthesis of R-mandelonitrile.