Fabrication of Meso/Macroporous Carbon Monolith and its Application as a Support for Adsorptive Separation of D-Amino Acid from Racemates

(S)-Alanine Racemase Chiral Analogue ((S)-ARCA) was used as an efficient adsorbent for the selective separation of D-amino acids (D-AAs), which are industrially important as chiral building blocks for the synthesis of pharmaceutical intermediates. The organic phase, containing (S)-ARCA adsorbent and phase transfer reagents, such as ionic liquid type molecules (Tetraphenylphosphonium chloride (TPPC), Octyltriphenylphosponium bromide (OTPPBr)), were coated on the surfaces of mesoporous carbon supports. For the immobilization of chiral adsorbents, meso/macroporous monolithic carbon (MMC), having bimodal pore structures with high surface areas and pore volumes, were fabricated. The separation of chiral AAs by adsorption onto the heterogeneous (S)-ARCA was performed using a continuous flow type packed bed reactor system. The effects of loading amount of ARCA on the support, the molar ratio of AA to ARCA, flow rates, and the type of phase transfer reagent (PTR) on the isolation yields and the optical purity of product D-AAs were investigated. D-AAs were selectively combined to (S)-ARCA through imine formation reaction in an aqueous basic solution of racemic D/L-AA. The (S)-ARCA coated MMC support showed a high selectivity, up to 95 ee%, for the separation of D-type phenylalanine, serine and tryptophan from racemic mixtures. The ionic liquids TPPC and OTPPBr exhibited superior properties to those of the ionic surfactant Cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB), as a PTR, showing constant optical purities of 95 ee%, with high isolation yields for five repeated reuses. The unique separation properties in this heterogeneous adsorption system should provide for an expansion of the applications of porous materials for commercial processes.