ENANTIOSEPARATION OF A CHIRAL EPOXIDE BY SIMULATED MOVING-BED CHROMATOGRAPHY USING CHIRALCEL-OD

The feasibility of using simulated moving bed (SMB) chromatography for the chiral separation of a racemic epoxide with Chiralcel-OD as the s tationary phase is demonstrated on a semi-preparative scale. Operating conditions for the separation are chosen with the help of a simple ch art that depicts visually the interrelationships between the system fl ow rates and the SMB design criteria. The 12 column (each 100 mm x 16 mm ID) SMB system continuously resolved the racemic mixture at a rate of 11.5 g/24 hr into streams with 95% and 94.4% e.e. (enantiomeric exc ess). A comparison of the SMB process with an optimized multiple-injec tion conventional chromatographic separation showed similar specific p roduction rates for both methods, but a seven-fold lower solvent consu mption for the SMB.