Chiral polyaniline modified Metal-Organic framework Core-Shell composite MIL-101@c-PANI for HPLC enantioseparation

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have attracted a substantial amount of attention due to special properties, such as gas adsorption, chromatographic separation, and catalytic activity. Herein, a post-modification method was used to modify the surface of achiral MOFs using chiral polyaniline to synthesize a chiral core-shell composite (MIL-101@c-PANI), which was used for the first time as a stationary phase for the separation of chiral compounds. Twelve kinds of chiral compounds, including alcohols, ketones, esters, aldehydes, organic acids and amines were separated on the MIL-101@c-PANI packed column. Moreover, the column also showed good selectivity for the separation of positional isomers. Some chiral compounds that cannot be separated using a commercially available tris(3,5-dimethylphenylcarbamoyl) amylose-packed column (AD column), could be separated on the MIL-101@c-PANI column. The effects of the analyte mass and column temperature on the separation efficiency were investigated. The column exhibited good stability and reproducibility during the enantioseparation of chiral compounds. The MIL-101@c-PANI composite gives rise to a synergistic effect by combining the advantages of c-PANI and MIL-101, which is favorable for an improvement in the chiral separation performance. Therefore, this work shows that such composite materials will be very attractive in the field of separation science.

Automated summary

This study successfully utilized a post-modification method to synthesize a chiral core-shell composite by modifying the surface of achiral MOFs with chiral polyaniline. The composite material was used as a stationary phase for the separation of chiral compounds, showing good separation efficiency and stability.