Chiral recognition polymer and its use to separate enantiomers

摘要

A new polymeric material, a process for forming the material and method of using the material to separate enantiomers of chiral compounds, particularly amino acids and pharmaceuticals are disclosed.A polymeric material can be formed from polyaniline doped with a chiral acid and then extracted with a suitable base. This leaves behind a polymeric material which preferentially traps, and then selectively releases, one enantiomer of a chiral mixture brought in contact with the surface of the polymeric material. In particular, when polyaniline is doped with either R- or S-camphorsulfonic acid (CSA) it takes on a chiral structure. Removing the chiral acid dopant leads to a new chiral polyaniline. The dedoped chiral polyanilines have the ability to discriminate among enantiomers of many compounds which exist in chiral mixtures.