Boc-7-aminoheptanoic acid

Uniformly sized molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) for Boc-L-Trp were prepared using ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EDMA) as the cross-linker, and methacylic acid (MAA) and/or 4-vinylpyridine (4-VPY) as the functional monomers or without use of a functional monomer. The MIPs prepared were evaluated using acetonitrile or a mixture of phosphate buffer and acetonitrile as the mobile phase. The Boc-L-Trp-imprinted EDMA polymers can recognize Boc-L-Trp by its molecular shape, and can thus afford the enantioseparation of Boc-Trp. Besides the molecular shape recognition, the hydrophobic interactions with the polymer backbones as well as the hydrogen-bonding interactions of Boc-L-Trp with carboxyl and pyridyl groups in the polymers should work for the retention and recognition of Boc-L-Trp on the imprinted MAA- co-EDMA and 4-VPY- co-EDMA polymers, respectively, in the hydro-organic mobile phase. The hydrogen-bonding interactions seem to become dominant when only acetonitrile is used as the mobile phase. The Boc-L-Trp-imprinted 4-VPY- co-EDMA polymers gave the highest retentivity and enantioselectivity for Boc-Trp among the MIPs prepared. However, the simultaneous use of MAA and 4-VPY was not effective for the enantioseparation of Boc-Trp in a hydro-organic mobile phase. Furthermore, the baseline separation of Boc-Trp enantiomers was attained within 10 min on the Boc-L-Trp-imprinted 4-VPY- co-EDMA polymers under the optimized HPLC conditions.

Dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction (DLLME) followed by a newly designed semi-automated in-syringe back extraction technique has been developed as an extraction methodology for the extraction of polar organic compounds prior to liquid chromatography (LC) measurement. The method is based on the formation of tiny droplets of the extractant in the sample solution using water-immiscible organic solvent (extractant) dissolved in a water-miscible organic dispersive solvent. Extraction of the analytes from aqueous sample into the dispersed organic droplets took place. The extracting organic phase was separated by centrifuging and the sedimented phase was withdrawn into a syringe. Then in-syringe back extraction was utilized to extract the analytes into an aqueous solution prior to LC analysis. Clenbuterol (CB), a basic organic compound used as a model, was extracted from a basified aqueous sample using 25 microL tetrachloroethylene (TCE, extraction solvent) dissolved in 500 microL acetone (as a dispersive solvent). After separation of the organic extracting phase by centrifuging, CB enriched in TCE phase was back extracted into 10 microL of 1% aqueous formic acid (FA) within the syringe. Back extraction was facilitated by repeatedly moving the plunger back and forth within the barrel of syringe, assisted by a syringe pump. Due to the plunger movement, a thin organic film is formed on the inner layer of the syringe that comes in contact with the acidic aqueous phase. Here, CB, a basic analyte, will be protonated and back extracted into FA. Various parameters affecting the extraction efficiency, viz., choice of extraction and dispersive solvent, salt effect, speed of syringe pump, back extraction time period, effect of concentration of base and acid, were evaluated. Under optimum conditions, precision, linearity (correlation coefficient, r(2)=0.9966 over the concentration range of 10-1000 ng mL(-1) CB), detection limit (4.9 ng mL(-1)), enrichment factor (175), relative recovery (97%) had been obtained. The applicability of this newly developed method was investigated for the analysis of CB in the water samples from river, lake and stream water.

In laboratory-based chemical synthesis, the choice of the solvent and the means of product purification are rarely determined by cost or environmental impact considerations. When a reaction is scaled up for industrial applications, however, these choices are critical: the separation of product from the solvent, starting materials, and byproduct usually constitutes 60-80% of the overall cost of a process. In response, researchers have developed solvents and solvent-handling methods to optimize both the reaction and the subsequent separation steps on the manufacturing scale. These include "switchable" solvents, which are designed so that their physical properties can be changed abruptly, as well as "tunable" solvents, wherein the solvent's properties change continuously through the application of an external stimulus. In this Account, we describe the organic aqueous tunable solvent (OATS) system, examining two instructive and successful areas of application of OATS as well as its clear potential for further refinement. OATS systems address the limitations of biphasic processes by optimizing reactions and separations simultaneously. The reaction is performed homogeneously in a miscible aqueous-organic solvent mixture, such as water-tetrahydrofuran (THF). The efficient product separation is conducted heterogeneously by the simple addition of modest pressures of CO(2) (50-60 bar) to the system. Under these conditions, the water-THF phase splits into two relatively immiscible phases: the organic THF phase contains the hydrophobic product, and the aqueous phase contains the hydrophilic catalyst. We take advantage of the unique properties of OATS to develop environmentally benign and cost-competitive processes relevant in industrial applications. Specifically, we describe the use of OATS for optimizing the reaction, separation, design, and recycling of (i) Rh-catalyzed hydroformylation of olefins such as 1-octene and (ii) enzyme-catalyzed hydrolysis of 2-phenylacetate. We discuss the advantages of these OATS systems over more traditional processes. We also consider future directions that can be taken with these proven systems as well as related innovations that have recently been reported, including the use of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) as a tunable adjunct in the solvent and the substitution of propane for CO(2) as the external stimulus. OATS systems in fact represent the ultimate goal for a sustainable process, because in an idealized setup there is only reactant coming in and product going out; in principle, there is no waste stream.