β-Cyclodextrin-Self-Assembled Nanochannel Membrane for the Separation of Chiral Drugs

The fabrication of a membrane with the capability of chiral selective transport is a big challenge in the membrane separation of chiral drugs. To solve the problem of chiral selectivity in membrane separation, drug/metabolite transport (DMT) in the cell membrane inspires a bionic strategy based on the nanochannel membrane. Herein, the DMT-inspired nanochannel membrane is fabricated by the self-assembly of cyclodextrin (CD) in nanochannels and used for the chiral transport and separation of model chiral drugs such as naproxen (NAP). As a result, the beta-CD-self-assembled nanochannel membrane shows chiral transport of (S)-naproxen (S-NAP) and achieves the chiral separation of racemic drugs. Moreover, a mechanism of chiral separation is proposed that the chiral selective interaction increases the surface charge density, causing chiral enrichment and transport. Given these promising results, the study of the beta-CD-self-assembled nanochannel membrane suggests a bionic strategy for the separation of chiral drugs.