Experiment and modeling for the separation of trans-stilbene oxide enantiomers on Chiralcel OD preparative column.

The chromatographic enantioseparation of trans-stilbene oxide (TSO) was studied experimentally and theoretically, where the preparative column was packed with 20 μm Chiralcel OD stationary phase and hexanes/2-propanol were used as mobile phase. The bed porosity, axial dispersion coefficient, mass transfer coefficient and the column efficiency were determined according to the pulse response experiments. The adsorption equilibrium isotherms of single and racemic mixture of trans-stilbene oxide were measured by the frontal analysis, the linear-Langmuir isotherm model was used to fit the experimental data, and the relative parameters were estimated for the competitive adsorption equilibrium of TSO enantiomers. Elution profiles were measured for the separation of TSO enantiomers on Chiralcel OD preparative column, and the experimental data were compared with the simulated results predicted by the mathematical model that accounted for axial dispersion and linear driving force mass transfer model. The adsorption equilibrium and kinetic information obtained in this work are useful for the scale up and optimization of both batch and continuous chromatographic enantioseparation systems.