Quality assessment of Radix Codonopsis by quantitative nuclear magnetic resonance

Radix Codonopsis (Dangshen) is a famous traditional Chinese medicine and has long been used for replenishing energy deficiency, strengthening the immune system, lowering blood pressure and improving appetite in China, Japan and Korea. A highly specific quantification method using ¹H NMR has been developed for the simultaneous determination of novel quaternary ammonium alkaloids codotubulosine A and B, adenosine and 5-(hydroxymethyl)furfural in Radix Codonopsis materials Codonopsis pilosula, C. pilosula var. modesta, C. tangshen, C. tubulosa, C. subglobosa, C. clematidea, C. lanceolota and Campanumoea javanica collected from different regions of China and Taiwan. A solid-phase extraction with C-18 cartridge followed by elution with water can easily remove sugars the major components that may affect the determination of target constituents. In the ¹H NMR spectrum, the signals of N-CH₃ of codotubulosine A (δ 2.75) and B (δ 2.83), H-8 of adenosine (δ 8.15), and CHO signal of 5-(hydroxymethyl)furfural (δ 9.49) are well separated from other signals in [²H₄]methanol. The quantity of the compounds was calculated by the relative ratio of the integral values of the target peaks of each compound to the known amount of internal standard pyrazine. The described NMR method is found to be relatively simple, specific, precise and accurate for the quality control of Radix Codonopsis herbs and no reference compounds are required for calibration curves, in comparison to conventional HPLC methods, for instance.     

Optically active macrocyclic hexaazapyridinophanes decorated at the periphery: synthesis and applications in the NMR enantiodiscrimination of carboxylic acids

A family of pyridine based dialdehydes has been efficiently prepared starting from chelidamic acid by chemical modification of its 4-hydroxyl group. The condensation of these dialdehydes with commercially available (1R,2R)-(−)-cyclohexane-1,2-diamine in the presence of Ba²⁺ template led, after the in situ reduction, to the synthesis of a family of enantiopure hexaazapyridinophanes substituted at the periphery. These new receptors have been used as chiral shift agents towards different carboxylic acids. Good splitting of the carboxylic acid NMR signals (up to ΔΔδ=0.13 ppm) were observed using substoichiometrical amount of the receptor.     

The Enantioresolution of Methylthiohydantoin-Amino Acids on R,S-2-hydroxypropyl Derivatized β-Cyclodextrin Bonded Stationary Phase Using the Water-Based Mobile Phase

The enantioresolution of thirteen methylthiohydantoin-amino acids (MTH-amino acids), which are substrates for producing D-amino acids through enzyme-catalyzed hydrolysis, is described on R, S-2-hydroxypropyl derivatized β-cyclodextrin bonded stationary phase (RSP-β-CD CSP) with a water-based mobile phase. The enantioresolution is relatively sensitive to the structural variation of group which is attached to the carbon at position five on methylthiohydantoin moiety and subsequently turns into side-chain group of corresponding D-amino acid produced after hydrolysis. The inclusion complexation is believed to be the mechanism responsible for the observed enantioresolution that cannot be reproduced either on native β-cyclodextrin CSP under the same chromatographic conditions or on both CSPs using the acetonitrile-based mobile phase. Approaches for enantioimprovement include varying the percentage of organic modifier in the mobile phase and using the buffer-typed mobile phase such as triethylammonium acetate (pH 4.1).     

An appraisal of experimental designs: Application to enantioselective capillary electromigration techniques

Enantioresolution processes are vital tools for investigating the enantioselectivities of chiral compounds. An analyst resolves to optimize enantioresolution conditions once they are determined. Generally, optimization is conducted by a one-factor-at-a-time (OFAT) approach. Although this approach may determine an adequate condition for the method, it does not often allow the estimation of the real optimum condition. Experimental designs are conducive for the optimization of enantioresolution methods via capillary electromigration techniques (CETs). They can efficiently extract information from the behavior of a method and enable the estimation of the real optimum condition. Furthermore, the application of the analytical quality by design (AQbD) approach to the development of CET-based enantioselective methods is a trend. This article (i) offers an overview of the application of experimental designs to the development of enantioselective methods from 2015 to mid-2020, (ii) reveals the experimental designs that are presently employed in CET-based enantioresolutions, and (iii) offers a critical point of view on how the different experimental designs can aid the optimization of enantioresolution processes by considering the method parameters.     

High Performance Liquid Chromatographic Enantioresolution of Benzoyl Amino Acid,Dipeptides and Tripeptide on β-Cyclodextrin Bonded Stationary Phase Using Polar-Organic Acetonitrile as the Mobile Phase

The enantiomeric resolution of several dipeptides, amino acid (i.e., isoleucine) and tripeptide (i.e., Leu-Gly-Phe) with two stereogenic centers on β-cyclodextrin bonded chiral stationary phase (β-CD CSP) using polar-organic acetonitrile as the mobile phase is examined through pre-column chemical derivatization with a series of tagging reagents such as benzoyl chloride, benzenesulfonyl chloride and 1-naphthalenesulfonyl chloride. These tagging reagents are similar in structure; however, the enantioselectivity for the same analyte derivatized with these tagging reagents is quite different and found to be the best with benzoyl chloride. In the reversed-phase mode or on the γ-CD CSP under the same chromatographic conditions, the enantioresolution diminishes for all tagged enantiomers that were examined in this study. Dipeptides derivatized by benzoyl chloride appear to be better resolved than by dansyl chloride as reported previously. Interestingly, no enantioresolution for most derivatized amino acids with single stereogenic center was observed. Finally, enantioresolution can be enhanced by replacing the basic additive such as triethylamine with tripropylamine in the polar-organic mobile phase.     

Cinchona alkaloids as privileged chiral solvating agents for the enantiodiscrimination of N-protected aminoalkanephosphonates—a comparative NMR study

A series of chiral amines of increasing structural complexity, such as 1-(1-naphthyl)ethylamine, ephedrine, quinine, quinidine, 9-O-tert-butylcarbamoylquinine, and 9-O-tert-butylcarbamoylquinidine were studied as chiral solvating agents for the enantiodifferentiation of N-benzyloxycarbonyl derivatives of 1-aminoalkanephosphonic and phosphinic acids by means of ³¹P NMR spectroscopy. Among the cinchona alkaloids, that induced the most significant chemical shift non-equivalences, non-substituted quinidine exhibited the best effectiveness, excellent for analytical purposes (for example Δδ = 0.348 up to 1.008 ppm for phosphinic acid analogs). The signal separation of the diionic phosphonic acid enantiomers could be further optimized by the addition of an excess of the solvating agents. The newly obtained results appeared better when compared to the data set previously reported for the same analytes with the application of cyclodextrins.     

Ring-expanded chiral rhombamine macrocycles for efficient NMR enantiodiscrimination of carboxylic acid derivatives

Novel 46-membered chiral rhombamine macrocycles (R,R,R,R)-8a and 8b were synthesized by [2+2] cyclocondensation reactions of (R,R)-1,2-diaminocyclohexane with the corresponding dialdehydes and subsequent reduction with NaBH₄. The X-ray crystal structure of 1:4 dioxane complex with (R,R,R,R)-8a indicated a rhombus conformation of the chiral macrocycle. Compounds (R,R,R,R)-8a and 8b were tested as chiral shift reagents for a wide range of α-substituted carboxylic acids and amino acid derivatives. Enantiodiscrimination of ¹H NMR signals was observed with ΔΔδ values of up to 0.214 ppm.     

2-Methoxy-2-(1-naphthyl)propionic acid,a powerful chiral auxiliary for enantioresolution of alcohols and determination of their absolute configurations by the 1H NMR anisotropy method

Racemic 2-methoxy-2-(1-naphthyl)propionic acid (1, MαNP acid) was enantioresolved as its esters derived from various chiral alcohols. For example, a diastereomeric mixture of esters prepared from (±)-1 and (1R,3R,4S)-(−)-menthol was easily separated by HPLC on silica gel yielding esters (−)-2a and (−)-2b, the separation factor α=1.83 being unusually large. The ¹H NMR chemical shift differences, Δδ=δ(R)–δ(S), between diastereomers 2a and 2b, are much larger than those of conventional chiral auxiliaries, e.g. Mosher’s MTPA and Trost’s MPA acids. This acid 1 is therefore very powerful for determining the absolute configuration of chiral alcohols by the ¹H NMR anisotropy method. Solvolysis of the separated esters yielded enantiopure acids (S)-(+)-1 and (R)-(−)-1, which are useful for enantioresolution of racemic alcohols.     

An azamacrocyclic receptor as efficient polytopic chiral solvating agent for carboxylic acids

The efficient use of a polyazamacrocycle as chiral solvating agent (CSA) for the determination of the enantiomeric excess of different carboxylic acids has been studied. All the data agree with the formation of multimolecular diastereomeric complexes in solution, which render good splitting of the NMR signals for the enantiomers of the acids (up to ΔΔδ = 0.20 ppm) using a small amount (even 0.125 equiv) of the receptor.     

Fast enantiomeric separation of propranolol by affinity capillary electrophoresis using human serum albumin as chiral selector: application to quality control of pharmaceuticals

In the last years, capillary electrophoresis (CE) has gained considerable interest in pharmaceutical laboratories for controlling the chiral purity of drugs. This paper describes a simple and fast method for resolution of propranolol enantiomers by affinity capillary electrophoresis (ACE) using human serum albumin (HSA) as chiral selector. The effect of several experimental variables such as HSA concentration, temperature, chiral selector plug length and addition of organic modifiers, on the separation is evaluated. Complete enantioresolution of R- and S-propranolol was achieved in less than 5 min when the capillary was completely filled with 100 μM HSA solution and the electrophoresis was carried out with 67 mM phosphate buffer (pH 7.4) at 20 kV and 35 °C. Peaks were assigned to each propranolol enantiomer according to their relative affinities to HSA. The proposed method was applied to the analysis of pharmaceutical preparations containing propranolol. Resolution, accuracy, reproducibility, cost and sample throughput of the proposed method make it suitable for quality control of the enantiomeric composition of propranolol in pharmaceuticals.     

Enantiodifferentiation of acyclic phosphonium salts in chiral liquid crystalline solutions

The enantiodifferentiation of acyclic phosphonium salts bearing a stereogenic centre, whether on the phosphorus atom or on one of its substituents, was investigated by ²H–{¹H}, ¹³C–{¹H} and ³¹P–{¹H} NMR in chiral liquid crystals composed of a polypeptide dissolved in an organic solvent. For the first time, the enantiomers of P-chirogenic phosphorus compounds were discriminated in these anisotropic media, affording good to excellent separation of the signals, allowing the determination of their proportion. While ³¹P–{¹H} NMR spectra showed no chiral separation, ²H–{¹H} NMR was efficient in the enantiodifferentiation of an isotopically labelled compound. Better still, ³¹C–{¹H} NMR in chiral liquid crystal appears as a powerful method for the enantiodifferentiation of this class of compounds, since separations of the signal up to 0.8 ppm were observed. In this commercially available anisotropic medium, ²H and ¹³C NMR offers a new promising alternative method for the enantiodifferentiation of chiral phosphonium salts.     

Determination of the absolute stereochemistry and the activation barriers of thermally interconvertible heterocyclic compounds bearing a naphthyl substituent

The enantiotopic methyl signals of the compounds studied were resolved in the presence of the optically active chiral auxiliary (S)-(+)-2,2,2-trifluoroanthryl ethanol, [(S)-TFAE] via complex formation between (S)-TFAE and the respective compounds. Two different solvation models were proposed for both M and P conformations leading to the assignments of the ¹H NMR signals and thus absolute conformations. The solvation models proposed also explained the strong temperature dependence of the ¹H NMR signals upon cooling. The activation barriers for interconversion between the enantiomers of the compounds studied have been determined by either temperature dependent NMR or enantioresolution on a chiral sorbent via HPLC.     

Assignment of the relative and absolute configurations of acyclic secondary 1,2-diols

The NMR profiles (¹³C-δ, ¹H-δ, ¹H(OH)-δ, and ³J_H,H) of syn- and anti-diols—3a,b in achiral solvents were found to be very similar to each other. Contrarily, their Δδ (Δδ=δ_(R,R)-2−δ_(S,S)-2) behaviors in chiral bidentate NMR solvent (R,R)- and (S,S)-BMBA-p-Me (2) were found to be significantly different. On the basis of this NMR characteristic, a method has been developed to predict both the relative and absolute configurations of acyclic secondary 1,2-diols.     

A comparative study of thermophysical and spectroscopic properties in mixtures of isomeric butanediol and N,N-dimethylformamide

The thermodynamic parameters viz. excess molar volume V^E and ultrasonic speed u, transport parameter viscosity η, and spectroscopic parameters viz. IR, ¹H, ¹³C NMR have been measured for the mixtures of isomeric butanediol (1,2-, 1,3-, 1,4- and 2,3-butanediol) and N,N-dimethylformamide over the whole composition range at 308.15 K. The partial molar quantities $Q_i^{\mathrm{E}}$, isentropic compressibility $K_{\mathrm{S}}^{\mathrm{E}}$, deviation in ultrasonic velocity u^D, viscosity deviation Δη, deviation in Gibbs energies of activation for viscous flow g(x), and excess NMR chemical shift δ^E have also been estimated and analyzed. Results show that the interaction between unlike molecules takes place through hydroxyl groups of isomeric butanediol and >CO group of N,N-dimethylformamide. Excellent correlation between thermodynamic and spectroscopic measurements is observed.     

Alnumycins A2 and A3: new inverse-epimeric pairs stereoisomeric to alnumycin A1

Two new pairs of stereoisomeric alnumycin As, A2 {(2)-(1R,1′RS,4′SR,5′SR)} and A3 {(2)-(1R,1′RS,4′SR,5′RS)}, are described. Similar to alnumycin A1 {(2)-(1R,1′RS,4′RS,5′SR)}, each of these naturally occurring compounds is also a pair of C-1 inverse epimers. The relative configurations of the dioxane ring sidechains were assigned on the basis of ¹H NMR NOE contacts and molecular modeling using density functional theory (DFT) at the M06-2X/6-31G(d) level of theory. The absolute configurations of C-1 and the determination of inverse epimeric relationships were achieved by experimental electronic circular dichroism (ECD) measurements, with both aspects confirmed by using the chiral derivatizing agent (CDA) Mosher′s acid chloride {α-methoxy-α-trifluorophenylacetyl chloride (MTPACl)} to effect enantiodifferentiation. The absolute configurations of the dioxane ring using the CDA could only be effected in the case of alnumycin A1, the results of which were in agreement with previous assignments. The dioxane ring conformational mobility and the likely interaction between the MTPA groups coupled with the structural novelty of the diols in the dioxane ring with respect to CDA analysis precluded an absolute configuration assignment for alnumycins A2 and A3 based on empirical comparisons or by computational analysis of through-space NMR shieldings (TSNMRS) emanating from the phenyl groups of the MTPA moieties.     

The HPLC Enantioresolution of Phenyl Isothiocyanated Amino Acids on Vancomycin Bonded Phase Using the Acetonitrile‐Based Mobile Phase: A Comparison to the Teicoplanin Phase

The phenyl isothiocyanate, an electrophilic reagent for peptide chain sequencing, is used to pre‐column derivatize a variety of α‐amino acids in alkaline medium before their enantioresolution on a vancomycin bonded chiral phase using the acetonitrile‐based mobile phase. The observed resolution is believed to be due to the re‐location of the hydrogen receptor site from sulfur to nitrogen on the isothiocyanyl fragment of derivatizing reagent, which in turn changes the enantioselectivity. Under the same chromatographic conditions, the resolution for N‐benzoylated, 3,5‐dinitrobenzoylated and N‐carbobenzyloxylated amino acids is either not found or unsatisfactory. Also, no resolution is obtained in the reversed‐ or normal phase mode for all phenyl isothiocyanated amino acids examined in this study.     

Synthesis, complete NMR assignments, and NOE versus GIAO data assisted ab initio modelling the overall conformations of amide 3,4′-diquinolinyl sulfides in solution. Another approach to analysis of flexible systems

Two isomeric amide sulfides 3 and 4 were prepared by the treatment of 6-substituted thioquinanthrene (2) with sodium methoxide and methyl iodide. Product structures were determined by ¹H and ¹³C NMR spectroscopy in solution, including 2D experiments HSQC and HMBC at 11.75 T. The time-averaged conformations were elucidated, based on best fitting the measured data δ_C and δ_H to those computed by the ab initio GIAO NMR method at the HF/6-31G^* level. All used input molecular models had been pre-selected before in the light of NOE experimental data. Excellent two-nuclear linear correlations δ_C,H^exp vs. δ_C,H^calc were achieved (R>0.999). Spatial orientations of the ring substituents [SMe and, especially, of C(O)NMe₂] in both isomers were considered to rationalise the NMR spectra of these and other related amide systems. A protocol for the three-step conformational analysis is described in detail.     

Enantioresolution of 2-methoxy-2-(1-naphtyl)propionic acid using diastereomeric salt formation with chiral phenylethylamine

An enantioresolution of 2-methoxy-2-(1-naphtyl)propionic acid (MαNP acid) using the diastereomeric salt with chiral (R)-phenylethylamine was achieved to give enantiopure (R)-MαNP acid in 29% yield with >99% ee based on rac-MαNP acid. X-ray crystallographic analysis of diastereomeric salt revealed that (R)-MαNP acid was tightly arranged by four independent hydrogen bonds and one CH–π interaction with (R)-phenylethylamine.     

Determination of energy barriers to rotation and absolute conformations of thermally interconvertible 5,5-dimethyl-3-(o-aryl)-2,4-oxazolidinedione enantiomers

The activation barriers for the interconversion between the enantiomers of 5,5-dimethyl-3-(o-aryl)-2,4-oxazolidinediones (M⇌P) have been determined by temperature dependent NMR and by enantioresolution on chiral sorbents via HPLC. The activation barriers were found to increase linearly with the size of the van der Waals radii of the ortho-halogen substituents. The enantiomers of the o-iodo derivative were micropreparatively enriched on a Chiralpak AD column, leading to the determination of its barrier to rotation via thermal racemization and resulting in the assignments of conformations in the presence of the optically active chiral auxiliary (S)-(+)-1-(9-anthryl)-2,2,2-trifluoro ethanol [(S)-TFAE].     

Synthesis of the structures proposed for natural butanolides piliferolides A and C

The structures proposed for natural butanolides piliferolides A and C have been synthesized. The allylic and lactone stereogenic centers in the target structures were derived from d-mannitol, while that near the side-chain terminal was taken from (R)-propylene oxide. The synthetic samples helped to reveal that a signal at around δ 2.0 ppm was missing in the ¹H NMR data listing for the structures proposed for natural piliferolides, whereas the δ 29.7 ppm signal in the ¹³C NMR reported for the structure proposed for natural piliferolide C most likely stemmed from the impurities in the chromatography solvent.