Enantioseparation Factor Research Articles

Impact of the degree of substitution on the enantioseparation of anionic β-cyclodextrin in liquid‒liquid extraction and countercurrent chromatography: Insights from molecular docking simulations

Five types of sulfobutylether-β-cyclodextrin (SBE-β-CD) and carboxymethyl-β-cyclodextrin (CM-β-CD) with different degrees of substitution were synthesized, and six and five racemates were respectively chosen to study the influence of the degree of substitution on the enantioseparation factor. The synthesized SBE-β-CD and CM-β-CD were characterized using 1H NMR spectroscopy and mass spectrometry. The results indicated that the influence of the degree of substitution on enantioseparation for distinct racemates exhibited significant variability. Increasing the degree of substitution of CM-β-CD led to an increasing enantioseparation factor, while SBE-β-CD with a specific degree of substitution provided the optimum enantioseparation factor for some racemates. The optimum enantioseparation factors of N-methyl duloxetine and duloxetine were obtained when a relatively low degree of substitution (DS = 3.5) was selected. And the optimum enantioseparation factor was obtained with a relatively high degree of substitution (DS = 7.5). SBE-β-CD with a low substitution degree of 3.5 was chosen to optimize the countercurrent chromatographic enantioseparation of N-methyl-duloxetine, which resulted in a significant improvement in peak resolution from 0.51 to 0.83. Molecular docking was used to construct three SBE-β-CDs with different degrees and distributions of substitution, and a good agreement was found between the docking results and the experimental results.

Mercapto-β-cyclodextrin covalent organic frameworks for enantioselective liquid-liquid extraction

β-Cyclodextrin (β-CD) exhibits exceptional chiral recognition ability, and covalent organic frameworks (COFs) have been reported as highly promising chiral carriers. Therefore, incorporating cyclodextrin into COFs may result in chiral covalent organic frameworks (CCOFs) suitable for chiral applications. In this work, a solvothermal method was employed to synthesize a classical porous covalent organic framework (COF-V), while β-CD underwent a two-step modification process, resulting in the synthesis of mercapto-β-cyclodextrin (β-CD-SH). Subsequently, a β-CD-based covalent organic framework (COF-S-CD) was synthesized through a Thiol-Ene “click” reaction. The synthesized COF-S-CD was successfully applied in enantioselective liquid-liquid extraction for five racemic arylcarboxylic acids, including 2-phenylpropionic acid, 2-(4-methylphenyl) propionic acid, 2-(3-chlorophenyl) propionic acid, 2-(4-nitrophenyl) propionic acid and α-cyclohexylmandelic acid. Under optimized conditions, enantioseparation factors for the five racemates reached 1.78, 2.20, 1.84, 1.76 and 1.96, respectively, which indicated a significant enhancement in chiral recognition ability upon the incorporation of cyclodextrin into the COF material. This new application suggested that the synthesis of covalent organic framework materials incorporating β-CD, with the ability to uniformly disperse in the aqueous phase, holds promising potential for highly effective enantioselective liquid-liquid extraction.

Investigation of three Sulfobutylether-β-cyclodextrin bonded magnetic nanoparticles in enantioselective Liquid-Liquid extraction

Chiral recognition ability of five racemic drugs/intermediates in enantioselective liquid–liquid extraction of functionalized magnetic nanoparticles was studied, which were synthesized by three different bonding methods using SBE-β-CD as functional molecule. The synthesis of three functionalized magnetic nanoparticles using SBE-β-CD as a functional molecular were studied and the functionalized magnetic nanoparticles were characterized by thermogravimetric analysis, X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The loading amount of SBE-β-CD on the surface was determined to be functionalized magnetic nanoparticles II (13.04 %) > functionalized magnetic nanoparticles I (7.15 %) > functionalized magnetic nanoparticles III (less than 6.22 %). Enantioselective liquid–liquid extractions of five racemates were optimized using the three functionalized magnetic nanoparticles as chiral extractant, respectively, and the ideal chiral extractant for each enantiomer was found. Functionalized magnetic nanoparticles III was found to be the best chiral extractant for trans-paroxol and N-methyl duloxetine, with the optimum enantioseparation factors of 1.824 and 1.480, respectively, while functionalized magnetic nanoparticles I was ideal for fluoxetine, tropic acid and acetyltropic acid, with the optimum enantioseparation factors of 1.201, 1.226 and 1.484, respectively.

Enantioseparation of two antifungal azole drugs by analytical countercurrent chromatography using sulfobutyl ether-β-cyclodextrin as chiral selector

This study reports a successful enantioseparation of two antifungal drugs, Ketoconazole and Voriconazole, using countercurrent chromatography (CCC) with synthesized sulfobutyl ether-β-cyclodextrin (SBE-β-CD) as chiral selector. Two biphasic solvent systems composed of dichloromethane: 0.1 mol L−1 of phosphate buffer solution (pH 3.0) (1:1, v/v) and n-hexane: ethyl acetate: 0.1 mol L−1 phosphate buffer solution (pH 3.0) (1.5:0.5:2, v/v/v) were selected. Influence factors were investigated, including degree of substitution of SBE-β-CD, concentration of SBE-β-CD, equilibrium temperature, and pH of aqueous phase. Under optimized separation conditions, a large enantioseparation factor of α ≥ 3.26 and a high peak resolution Rs= 1.82, was achieved for enantioseparation of Voriconazole by countercurrent chromatography, and purity of two azole stereoisomers collected from CCC separation reached 98.5%, as determined by HPLC. Molecular docking was employed to investigate the formation of inclusion complex.

Degree and distribution of substitution of hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin in enantioselective liquid-liquid extraction and countercurrent chromatographic enantioseparation

Nine types of hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin (HP-β-CD) with different degrees and distributions of substitution were synthesised, and nine racemates were selected to investigate the effect of different degrees and distributions of substitution of HP-β-CD on the enantioseparation factor. 1H NMR and GC/MS were used to characterise the synthesised HP-β-CD. The degree and distribution of substitution had a significant influence on enantioselective liquid-liquid extraction and enantioseparation by countercurrent chromatography. For most of the tested racemates, increasing both the degree of substitution and distribution of substitution at the C-2 position for HP-β-CD would lead to an increasing enantioseparation factor; the optimal enantioseparation factor of 2-phenylbutyric acid, tropic acid, 2,3-diphenylpropionic acid, 2-(4-hydroxylphenyl) propanoic acid, and naproxen was increased to 1.77, 1.53, 1.67, 1.61, and 1.75, respectively. The enantioseparation of racemic naproxen, 2-(4-hydroxylphenyl) propanoic acid, and 2,3-diphenylpropionic acid by countercurrent chromatography was optimised using HP-β-CD with a degree of substitution of 16.5, and peak resolution was significantly improved to 1.03, 1.35, and 1.01, respectively.

ON/OFF receptor-like enantioseparation of planar chiral 1,2-ferrocenes on an amylose-based chiral stationary phase: The role played by 2-propanol

A set of nine planar chiral 1,2-ferrocenes was analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) on the amylose tris(3,5-dimethylphenylcarbamate) chiral stationary phase. The enantioseparations were carried out using neat methanol, ethanol, 1-propanol, and 2- propanol as well as mixtures of n-hexane-2-propanol as mobile phases. The differences in retention times between the second eluted (Rp)-enantiomers and the first eluted (Sp)-enantiomers were significantly influenced by elution modes and the steric hindrance of substituents at the aromatic rings of the ferrocene backbone. It has been demonstrated an ON/OFF switching of receptor-like chiral discrimination through the employment of different alcohols as mobile phases. In particular, the presence of pure 2-propanol triggers exceptional conditions of enantioselectivity that for some ferrocenes result in values of the enantioseparation factor higher than 80.

Enantioseparation of three constitutional isomeric 2-(methylphenyl)propanoic acids by countercurrent chromatography

2-(3-Methylphenyl)propanic acid and 2-(4-methylphenyl)propanoic acid were successfully enantioseparated by countercurrent chromatography using hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin (HP-β-CD) as a chiral selector. 2-(2-Methylphenyl)propanoic acid was also studied to compare the enantioseparation ability of three isomeric 2-(methylphenyl)propanoic acids. Totally 20 mg of 2-(3-methylphenyl)propanic acid and 20mg of 2-(4-methylphenyl)propanic acid were enantioseparated individually by countercurrent chromatography. Recovery for the (±)-2-(3-methylphenyl)propanic acid enantiomer was in the range of 85%-90% with 98.0%-98.8% purity and recovery for the (±)-2-(4-methylphenyl)propanic acid enantiomer was in the range of 80%-83% with 97.0%-98.0% purity. The enantioseparation factor in countercurrent chromatography for 2-(4-methylphenyl)propanic acid and 2-(3-methylphenyl)propanic acid were 1.31 and 1.26, and the peak resolution in HPLC reached 2.2 and 1.4. However, no enantioseparation could be found for 2-(2-methylphenyl)propanic acid. In addition, the inclusion complexes were investigated by UV spectrophotometer. The inclusion formation constant of inclusion complex between 2-(4-methylphenyl)propanic acid, 2-(3-methylphenyl)propanic acid, 2-(2-methylphenyl)propanic acid and HP-β-CD were determined as 121.73 mol/L, 78.12 mol/L and 53.18 mol/L, respectively. The present results showed that enantiorecognition was greatly affected by substituted positions of methyl group on the benzene ring. Combined with our previous results, the steric hindrance had a significant effect on inclusion interaction between HP-β-CD and racemic 2-(substitutedphenyl)propanoic acids. No enantiorecognition could be achieved for 2-(substitutedphenyl)propanoic acids with ortho-substituent group on benzene, while the influence of meta- and para- group on enantiorecognition varies with different substituent groups on benzene ring.

Spectral study on inclusion interaction and enantiorecognition of 2-aryl carboxylic acids with hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin.

The inclusion interaction between hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin (HP-β-CD) and 21 2-aryl carboxylic acids was investigated by UV (ultraviolet) spectrophotometer. The inclusion constant of each 2-aryl carboxylic acids with HP-β-CD was determined by Benesi-Hildebrand's equation. According to our previous work, it was found that a high inclusion constant for inclusion complex formed by a racemate and cyclodextrin was always observed with the fact that a high enantioseparation factor was achieved for the racemate in enantioseparation by liquid-liquid chromatography, which suggested that high binding combination between racemate and cyclodextrin is very important for a successful enantioseparation in enantioselective liquid-liquid extraction. Among all the studied subjects, mandelic acid enantiomer, 2,3-diphenylpropionic acid enantiomer, and naproxen enantiomer were selected for the further study. The inclusion constants of enantiomers of these three subjects were determined by UV spectra, which indicated that a necessary difference in inclusion constants between enantiomer and cyclodextrin was also essential. It was found in UV spectra that the absorbance of the analytes with the addition of cyclodextrin would increase or decrease, which was determined by the type of electron excitation. The conformation changes of small molecules can lead to the changes of chromophore valence electron clouds distribution, causing the HOMO-LUMO energy difference decreased. Thus, a red shift of the wavelength of the maximum absorption was produced indicating that the possibility of the molecular interaction of enantiomers with HP-β-CD exists.

Enantioseparation of acetyltropic acid by countercurrent chromatography with sulfobutyl ether-β-cyclodextrin as chiral selector.

Acetyltropic acid is an important synthetic intermediate for preparation of tropane alkaloid derivatives, which can be used as anticholinergic drugs, deliriants, and stimulants. In the present work, acetyltropic acid was successfully enantioseparated by countercurrent chromatography using sulfobutyl ether-β-cyclodextrin as chiral selector. A biphasic solvent system composed of n-butyl acetate/n-hexane/0.1mol/L citrate buffer at pH=2.2 containing 0.1mol/L of sulfobutyl ether-β-cyclodextrin (7:3:10, v/v) was selected, which produced a suitable distribution ratio DS =1.14, DR =2.31 and a high enantioseparation factor α=2.03. Baseline separation was achieved for preparative enantioseparation of 50mg of racemic acetyltropic acid. A method for chiral analysis of acetyltropic acid by conventional reverse phase liquid chromatography with hydroxylpropyl-β-cyclodextrin as mobile phase additive was established, and formation constants of inclusion complex were determined. It was found that different substituted β-cyclodextrin should be selected for enantioseparation of acetyltropic acid by countercurrent chromatography and reverse phase liquid chromatography.

The development of biphasic chiral recognition in chiral separation.

In chiral separation, enantioseparation factor is an important parameter which influences the resolution of enantiomers. In this current overview, a biphasic chiral recognition method is introduced to the readers. This method can significantly improve the enantioseparation factor in two-phase solvent through adding lipophilic and hydrophilic chiral selectors which have opposite chiral recognition ability to organic and aqueous phases, respectively. This overview presents the development and applications of biphasic chiral recognition in liquid-liquid extraction and counter current chromatography. It mainly focuses on the topics of mechanism, advantages and limitations, applications, and key factors of biphasic chiral recognition. In addition, the future outlook on development of biphasic chiral recognition also has been discussed in this overview.

A Novel Two-Step Liquid-Liquid Extraction Procedure Combined with Stationary Phase Immobilized Human Serum Albumin for the Chiral Separation of Cetirizine Enantiomers along with M and P Parabens.

The research into the separation of drug enantiomers is closely related to the safety and efficiency of the drugs. The aim of this study was to develop a simple and validated HPLC method to analyze cetirizine enantiomers. In the case of liquid dosage forms, besides the active substance in large amounts there are usually also inactive ingredients such as methyl- and propylparaben. Unfortunately, these compounds can interfere with the analyte, inter alia during chiral separation of the analyte enantiomers. The proposed innovative two-step liquid-liquid extraction procedure allowed for the determination of cetirizine enantiomers (along with M and P parabens) also in liquid dosage forms. The main focus of this study was the chromatographic activity of cetirizine dihydrochloride on the proteinate-based chiral stationary phase. The chromatographic separation of cetirizine enantiomers was performed on an immobilized human serum albumin (HSA) column for the first time. Measurements were performed at a wavelength of 227 nm. Under optimal conditions, baseline separation of two enantiomers was obtained with 1.43 enantioseparation factor (α) and 1.82 resolution (Rs). Finally, the proposed method was successfully applied to the selected pharmaceutical formulations.

3-(Phenyl-4-oxy)-5-phenyl-4,5-dihydro-(1H)-pyrazole: A fascinating molecular framework to study the enantioseparation ability of the amylose (3,5-dimethylphenylcarbamate) chiral stationary phase. Part I. Structure-enantioselectivity relationships

Chiral stationary phases (CSPs) based on amylose (3,5-dimethylphenylcarbamate) (ADMPC) exhibit a wide-range of enantioselectivity in high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC). Although this class of CSPs has been extensively used, chiral discriminations at receptorial level, which are useful to develop predictive molecular models, have been rarely reported in the literature.Herein, we describe the results obtained in the enantioselective HPLC of a set of six C5-chiral 4,5-dihydro-(1H)-pyrazole derivatives on the ADMPC-based Chiralpak AD-3 CSP (CSP) under normal-phase and polar organic conditions. Using pure methanol as a mobile phase the exceptional enantioseparation factor value of 50 at 25°C was found for one of the investigated analytes. To the best of our knowledge, the enantiomeric bias represents the most outstanding enantioseparation ever recorded on ADMPC-based CSPs.Systematic variations in chemical groups in specific positions of the 3-(phenyl-4-oxy)-5-phenyl-4,5-dihydro-(1H)-pyrazole molecular framework resulted in peculiar changes in retention and enantioselectivity. A careful analysis of the chromatographic data permitted to advance some hypotheses concerning the role played by the individual chemical groups in determining the exceptional enantioseparation.In particular, under methanol-rich mode, the prenyl moiety of the second eluted enantiomer of the better resolved analyte was recognized as a critical structural element to establish direct and favorable solvophobic interactions with apolar portions of selector.

Separation of enantiomers on chiral stationary phase based on cellulase: Effect of preparation method and silica particle diameters on chiral recognition ability

Cellulase (Cel) was immobilized onto aminopropyl-silica gels via its amino and carboxy groups, respectively, using N,N′-disuccinimidyl carbonate, and 1-ethyl-3-(3′-dimethylaminopropyl)carbodimide and N-hydroxysulfosuccinimide. They were termed N-Cel and C-Cel, respectively. Despite their smaller retention factors on a C-Cel column, the enantioseparation factors and resolution of β-blockers, propranolol, alprenolol, oxprenolol and pindolol, were similar with N- and C-Cel columns. In addition, C-Cel was prepared using aminopropyl-silica gels, whose nominal particle diameters were 5 and 3, and 2.1μm, respectively. A C-Cel column prepared with 2.1-μm aminopropyl-silica gels gave the highest enantioselectivity and column efficiency among three C-Cel columns. Furthermore, the influence of N,N-dimethyl-n-octylamine (DMOA) or cellobiose concentrations on the retentivity and enantioselectivity for β-blockers on a C-Cel column was investigated. The results indicate that single-site competition of β-blockers with DMOA or cellobiose on the catalytic binding site of Cel and the further bindings at the secondary site in a non-competitive fashion could occur. Furthermore, the enantioselective bindings of β-blockers could occur at the catalytic biding cite of Cel and at the secondary binding site.

Chiral ligand exchange countercurrent chromatography: Equilibrium model study on enantioseparation of mandelic acid

The equilibrium model in enantioseparation of mandelic acid by chiral ligand exchange countercurrent chromatography was investigated using N-n-dodecyl-l-proline as chiral ligand and cupric ion as central metal. Important parameters, including physical partition coefficient and formation constants of binary and ternary coordination complexes in the two-phase solvent system, were determined. This equilibrium model could give an excellent prediction of distribution ratio and enantioseparation factor of the analyte in the biphasic solvent system, which was further verified by experiments. All the average relative deviations were less than 12%, indicating that the established model could provide a simple computational approach for optimization of enantioseparation conditions in chiral ligand exchange countercurrent chromatography.

Enantioseparation of 2-(substituted phenyl)propanoic acids by high-speed countercurrent chromatography and investigation of the influence of substituents in enantiorecognition

This paper concentrates on the enantioseparation of racemic 2-(substituted phenyl)propanoic acids by high-speed countercurrent chromatography with substituted β-cyclodextrin as the chiral selector, and an investigation of the influence of the substituent on the benzene ring in enantiorecognition between the chiral selector and enantiomer of each racemate is presented. This is an extension research of our previous work on the enantioseparation of 2-phenyl propanoic acid derivatives, to investigate the relationship between the value of enantioseparation factor and the different substituent on the benzene ring. In total, ten racemic 2-(substituted phenyl)propanoic acids were investigated, of which four including 2-(4-nitrophenyl)propanoic acid, 2-(4-methylphenyl)propanoic acid, 2-(4-hydroxyphenyl)propanoic acid, and 2-(4-chlorophenyl)propanoic acid, were studied by countercurrent chromatography for the first time, and two racemates were successfully enantioseparated. The distribution ratio and enantioseparation factor for all the ten racemates were determined by enantioselective liquid-liquid extraction. The results showed that an electron-donating group on the benzene ring presents a higher enantiorecognition induced by chiral selector than that of racemates with an electron-withdrawing group on the benzene ring.

Penetrable silica microspheres for immobilization of bovine serum albumin and their application to the study of the interaction between imatinib mesylate and protein by frontal affinity chromatography

In the current study, novel featured silica, named penetrable silica, simultaneously containing macropores and mesopores, was immobilized with bovine serum albumin (BSA) via Schiff base method. The obtained BSA-SiO2 was employed as the high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) stationary phase. Firstly, D- and L-tryptophan were used as probes to investigate the chiral separation ability of the BSA-SiO2 stationary phase. An excellent enantioseparation factor was obtained up to 4.3 with acceptable stability within at least 1 month. Next, the BSA-SiO2 stationary phase was applied to study the interaction between imatinib mesylate (IM) and BSA by frontal affinity chromatography. A single type of binding site was found for IM with the immobilized BSA, and the hydrogen-bonding and van der Waals interactions were expected to be contributing interactions based on the thermodynamic studies, and this was a spontaneous process. Compared to the traditional silica for HPLC stationary phase, the proposed penetrable silica microsphere possessed a larger capacity to bond more BSA, minimizing column overloading effects and enhancing enantioseparation ability. In addition, the lower running column back pressure and fast mass transfer were meaningful for the column stability and lifetime. It was a good substrate to immobilize biomolecules for fast chiral resolution and screening drug-protein interactions.

Advanced dress-up chiral columns: New removable chiral stationary phases for enantioseparation of chiral carboxylic acids

This paper describes the preparation of new dress-up columns featuring reproducibly removable and replaceable chiral stationary phases. After synthesizing perfluroalkylated quinine and quinidine derivatives as chiral stationary phase compounds (F-CSPs), we adsorbed them reversibly onto a fluorous LC column through pumping of their solutions. Using this dress-up chiral column and fluorophobic elution of aqueous ammonium formate/MeOH mixtures, we could enantioseparate four racemic N-acetyl amino acids, dichlorprop, and sixteen fluorescent 6-aminoquinolyl-N-hydroxysuccinimidyl carbamate (AQC)-derivatized amino acids. Dressing and undressing of the coated F-CSPs could be controlled by varying the fluorophilicity and fluorophobicity of the eluent. The relative standard deviations of the retention times, the retention factors, the number of theoretical plates, the enantioseparation factors, and the resolutions of each of four preparations of such dress-up columns were all less than or equal to 5.26% (from 20 repeated analyses); the reproducibilities from four different preparations were all less than or equal to 10.6%. These columns also facilitated highly sensitive and selective analyses of AQC-amino acids when detected using LC–MS/MS.

Monolithic silica columns with covalently attached octaproline chiral selector. Dependence of performance on derivatization degree and comparison with a bead-based analogue

A monolithic silica gel chromatographic matrix was derivatized repetitively with an octaproline-derived chiral selector (CS). The increasingly derivatized column was tested after each derivatization reaction. The enantioseparation ability, resolution and efficiency were found to depend on the content of CS attained after each reaction. Moreover, enantioselectivity and performance of the column with the highest CS coverage were compared to those of a bead-based chiral stationary phase (CSP) counterpart. The octaproline-derivatized monolithic column demonstrated increased enantioseparation factors, resolution and broader applicability than the particle-based column. Finally, the loading capacity of the CSPs was also examined. The monolithic octaproline-derived column permits the separation of 3–20 times higher molar amounts of the tested analytes (depending on the compound considered) than the particle-based counterpart. The enhanced capabilities of the derivatized monolithic column with respect to that of a bead-based counterpart cannot be explained only on the basis of an increased CS coverage. The involvement of an effect produced by the chromatographic silica support structure in the obtained results is discussed.

Separation of enantiomers on chiral stationary phase based on chicken α1-acid glycoprotein: Effect of silica particle diameters on column performance

The effects of silica particle diameters on performances of chicken α1-acid glycoprotein (c-AGP)-immobilized silica particle columns were investigated. c-AGP was immobilized onto aminopropyl silica particles, whose nominal particle diameters were 5, 3 and 2.1μm, activated with N,N′-disuccinimidyl carbonate. The retention factor (k), enantioseparation factor (α), resolution (Rs) and height equivalent to a theoretical plate (H) of solutes on three c-AGP columns were evaluated using a mixture of phosphate buffer and organic modifier as a mobile phase in LC. There were not so much differences in their k and α values among three c-AGP columns, while their Rs values were in the order of 2.1μm>3μm>5μm silica particles and their H values were in the reversed order. Since three c-AGP columns gave almost the same enantioseparation factors for solutes, their highest Rs and lowest H values on a c-AGP-immobilized column prepared with 2.1-μm silica particles came from its highest column efficiency among there c-AGP columns. These results suggest that 2.1-μm silica particles could be useful for the preparation of c-AGP- or protein-based CSPs.

A chromatographic and computational study on the driving force operating in the exceptionally large enantioseparation of N-thiocarbamoyl-3-(4′-biphenyl)-5-phenyl-4,5-dihydro-(1H) pyrazole on a 4-methylbenzoate cellulose-based chiral stationary phase

This paper describes the results obtained in the HPLC enantioseparation of N-thiocarbamoyl-3-(4′-biphenyl)-5-phenyl-4,5-dihydro-(1H) pyrazole on a cellulose tris(4-methylbenzoate) chiral stationary phase (OJ-3 CSP) using normal-phase and polar organic conditions. The enantioseparation factor (α=207) observed using the mixture n-hexane–2-propanol 70:30 as a mobile phase is among the highest values ever reported in enantioselective HPLC. The enantioseparation process was investigated by means of molecular modelling techniques. Chromatographic and theoretical investigations addressed the extreme affinity of the most CSP retained (S)-enantiomer to the intermolecular H bond network between the ligand thioamide group and the stationary phase O atoms.