Chiral ligand-exchange chromatography as the screening method for proposed modifications in exametazime synthesis to enhance diastereoselectivity

99mTc(V)- d, l-HM-PAO complex is well-known radiopharmaceutical for regional cerebral blood flow imaging. The proposed modifications in exametazime, hexamethylpropyleneamine oxime (HM-PAO) (4,8-diaza-3,6,6,9-tetramethylundecane-2,10-dione bisoxime) synthesis, for reduction of intermediary reactant diiminebisoxime (DI) (4,8-diaza-3,6,6,9-tetramethylundecane-3,8-diene-2,10-dione bisoxime) concerned two reductants (NaBH 4 and KBH 4), two solvents (ethanol and 2-propanol), and three mole ratios of reactant/reductants (1:1, 1:1.5, and 1:2). The simultaneous analysis of diastereo–enantiomeric HM-PAO content, as well as the content of starting DI, in different reduction mixtures were performed using chiral ligand-exchange chromatography (CLEC). The separation of the samples of investigated reduction mixtures, obtained in the second step of HM-PAO synthesis, has been accomplished by using an achiral sorbent (RP-18) and a chiral mobile phase (CMP) containing copper(II) complex with N, N-dimethyl- l-phenylalanine ( l-DM-PhA) as initial complex for CLEC. With 12 different reduction conditions, the obtained ratios of diastereoisomers d, l-HM-PAO : meso-HM-PAO varied from 69.2:30.8 to 15.9:84.1, in comparison to the reduction in routine synthesis of HM-PAO which gives an equal mixture of diastereoisomers. The ternary mixed complexes formation recorded spectrophotometrically on addition of HM-PAO or DI to the mobile phase with binary complex Cu( l-DM-PhA) 2, due to the evidence of bathochromic shift of 46 nm for λ max with significant difference in absorptivity contributes to separation mechanism.