Chiral separation of α-cyclohexylmandelic acid enantiomers using ionic liquid/salt aqueous two-phase system

In this paper, an ionic liquid-based aqueous two-phase system (ILATPS) was applied to the chiral separation of α-cyclohexylmandelic acid (α-CHMA) enantiomers with hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin (HP-β-CD) as the chiral selector. Several influencing parameters were investigated including the types and concentration of ionic liquids, the amount of phase-forming salt, temperature, mixing time, pH, and the content of HP-β-CD. The results showed that not all ILATPS had the ability to chirally recognise the selected enantiomers and that [C4mim]BF4/(NH4)2SO4-based ATPS possessed the best enantioseparation ability of the investigated ILATPSs. Under optimal conditions, the separation factor (α) attained 1.59 in a single-step extraction. ILATPS is much “greener” than other liquid-liquid extraction systems, showing its potential for application to the chiral separation.