Chromatography in Preparative/Industrial Scale Separation of Enantiomeric Mixtures

Analytical chromatographic methods of enantioseparation do serve as good starting points, but the preparative scale requires more extensive method development and is yet facing challenges. There remains a clear opportunity to refine workflows for large-scale purification laboratories, in which method development and optimization are substantially more costly and generate significantly more hazardous waste than their analytical counterparts. The aim of the present paper is to present certain successful methods (specially chromatographic, along with a few other approaches) adopted for the preparative/industrial scale separation and isolation of enantiomers of a variety of active pharmaceutical ingredients and other important and useful enantiomeric mixtures obtained through different stereoselective syntheses or less expensive conventional chemical synthesis. Although the information is embedded in patents, obviously details of experimental methods remain hidden by and large. There appeared a significant improvement in enantiomer production with the process combination of chromatography and crystallization and/or (bio)chemical reactions. These methods and results emphasize the critical significance of rationally selecting appropriate methodology. This may help chemists and professionals in academia gain useful insights into fields.