From Analytical Chromatography to Simulated Moving Bed Chromatography: Resolution of Omeprazole Enantiomers

Enantioseparation of omeprazole was conducted with a chiral simulated moving bed chromatography (SMBC) process. The coated triphenylcarbamate cellulose chiral stationary phase (CSP) was preparared and used as the CSPs in the SMBC, while ethanol was selected as the eluent after several solvents were screened using analytical chromatography. S-Omeprazole with a purity of 96.4% was obtained from the SMBC. A simulated moving bed (SMB) model was used to simulate the SMBC process. The size required for SMBC is small; therefore, the dead volume caused by connection tubes is somewhat large, relative to the column volume. If the dead volume was supposed to be zero, the simulation would be very bad. Two approaches were used to take into account any effects that were due to the dead volume. The simulations match the experimental data well and can effectively validate the given operation conditions.