Microfluidic Diffusion-based Chiral Resolution

Chirality is an essential property of nature, producing and regulating fundamental phenomena in living matter. Chiral compounds are widely used in medicine, clinical, pathological, and other fields.

Different enantiomers of chiral molecules have significant differences in pharmacological activities, metabolic effects, toxicity, and even opposite effects.

Since most chiral compounds exist in the racemic form, it is important to develop strategies for rapid and efficient separation and purification of chiral compounds to deal with inevitable future threats such as diseases and viruses.

Although many techniques for chiral resolutions have been developed over the years, most of them are impeded by low efficiency and accuracy, high energy consumption, tedious preparation and operation and high cost.

Therefore, I propose a project, CRMS “Chiral Resolution using Microfluidics and helical Supramolecular polymers” which aims to develop a simple diffusion-based strategy for chiral resolution by incorporating helical supramolecular polymers (HSPs).

In this project, I will combine the ability of HSPs to recognize the handedness of chiral molecules through non-covalent interactions with the diffusion-based separation ability of microfluidics for the enantio-separation of chiral molecules.

I chose microfluidics for chiral resolution because it is a cost-effective and energy-efficient technique that takes advantage of the natural flow properties of the fluids entering the flow reactor for diffusion-based separation.

CRMS project will not only start a new area of research in the junction of supramolecular chirality and flow chemistry but also have applications in pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries for enantio-separation of chiral drugs/ingredients.