Cellulose derivative hybrid porous polydivinylbenzene microspheres for chiral chromatography separation

In this work, a modified suspension polymerization method was developed to synthesize cellulose derivative hybrid polydivinylbenzene (PDVB) microspheres with particle sizes of 7–12 μm. Cellulose tris(4-methylbenzoate) (CTMB) and cellulose tris(3,5-dimethylphenylcarbamate) (CDMPC) hybrid PDVB were incorporated and well distributed in the microspheres. The chiral recognition ability of the chiral stationary phases (CSP) was evaluated by chiral high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) separation of 38 enantiomers with widely varied chemical structures. The influence of pore size and the loading of chiral selectors were investigated. The chiral recognition ability of the columns is comparable to that of the CHIRALCEL^® OD column and CHIRALCEL^® OJ column. For some enantiomers, the chiral selectivity of the prepared columns is even better than CHIRALPAK^®IB column and CHIRALPAK^®IJ column. In addition, the columns showed excellent stability in the basic mobile phase and organic solvents such as tetrahydrofuran (THF) and ethyl acetate (EA). This work enabled the synthesized polysaccharide-based CSPs with good chiral recognition ability and high stability.