Kinetic study on biphasic recognition chiral extraction for separation of α‐cyclohexyl‐mandelic acid enantiomers

BACKGROUND: Chiral solvent extraction is a potentially attractive chiral separation technique. It is essential to know the intrinsic complexation kinetics for selection, design and operation of reactive extraction equipment and for reliable scale‐up. The objective of this research is to study the kinetics of biphasic recognition chiral extraction of α‐cyclohexyl‐mandelic acid (α‐CHMA) enantiomers using a modified Lewis cell. RESULTS: The experimental results demonstrate that the extraction reaction kinetics is fast, and the reactions are first order with respect to α‐CHMA and second order with respect to D‐IBTA, with forward rate constants of 6.54 × 10^?4 mol^?2 m⁶ s^?1 for S‐α‐CHMA and 6.84 × 10^?4 mol^?2 m⁶ s^?1 for R‐α‐CHMA. With increase of HP‐β‐CD concentration in aqueous phase, enantioselectivity increases, while the overall mass transfer coefficients decrease. CONCLUSIONS: Sufficient enantioselectivity and fast kinetics of extraction can be obtained in the BRCE system at HP‐β‐CD concentration of 0.1 mol L^?1 and D‐IBTA concentration of 0.2 mol L^?1. These data will be useful in the design of extraction processes. Copyright © 2012 Society of Chemical Industry