PURIFICATION OF ZOPICLONE BY PREPARATIVE HIGH-PERFORMANCE LIQUID-CHROMATOGRAPHY

The zopiclone was obtained in a 99.5% pure form, and in good yield by preparative scale high performance liquid chromatography. Purification was from a complex reaction mixture. A reversed phase preparative sca le HPLC column is used. This work demonstrates how kilogram quantities of pure material can be conveniently obtained using preparative HPLC, even when the components in a mixture are difficult to resolve.