Work

Intrinsic chiral microporous polymer membranes by interfacial polymerization for precise enantioseparation

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: Enantiomers of chiral drugs frequently exhibit distinct pharmacological activities, metabolic pathways, rates of metabolism, and toxicological profiles. Consequently, the large-scale production of single enantiomers holds significant scientific and economic value. Membrane-based chiral separation presents considerable potential advantages, including low operational costs and high productivity, which have driven substantial research interest. In this study, we employed the chiral spirocyclic compound 1,1'-spirobiindane-7,7'-diol (SPINOL) as the aqueous-phase monomer to fabricate chiral polymers of intrinsic microporosity (CPIMs) membranes via interfacial polymerization (IP). The S-CPIMs/PAN composite membrane, synthesized on a polyacrylonitrile (PAN) substrate, demonstrated high enantioselectivity towards ibuprofen (PRF), achieving an enantiomeric excess ( ee ) of 95.4%. Mechanistically, this selectivity originates from transition-state energy differentials within transmembrane free-energy landscapes. Importantly, large-area, defect-free chiral membranes were successfully fabricated and engineered into functional membrane modules, which demonstrated exceptional homogeneity and stable performance.

Source: Advanced Membranes

DOI: 10.1016/j.advmem.2025.100185

Authors: Zichen Li, Yumei Wang, Runhao Li, Yi Liu, Yue Sun

Institutions: Tiangong University, State Key Laboratory of Advanced Separation Membrane Materials, South Central Minzu University

Language: English

Topic: Analytical Chemistry and Chromatography

Subfield: Spectroscopy

Field: Chemistry

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: diamond

Funders: National Natural Science Foundation of China, Natural Science Foundation of Hebei Province, Natural Science Foundation of Tianjin City

Awards: G2083047501, G2870028639, G7741030110