The first direct resolution of gossypol enantiomers has been achieved by HPLC on a chiral stationary phase consisting of cellulose tris-(3,5-dimethylphenyl carbamate) coated onto microporous aminopropyl-silica eluted in the reverse phase mode. Chirality 11: 46-49, 1999. © 1999 KEY WORDS: enantiomers of gossypol; direct resolution; chiral HPLC phase; carbohydrate carbamate coating; cellulose tris-(3,5-dimethylphenyl carbamate)Gossypol (Fig. 1), a binaphthyl pigment isolated from the cotton plant and also present in a number of other members of the Malvaceae, is chiral due to steric hindrance to rotation about the internaphthyl bond.1 The standard isolation procedure developed for the extraction of gossypol from the cotton plant 1 affords racemic gossypol as a 1:1 complex with acetic acid. However, investigations have shown that there are wide variations in the ratio of gossypol enantiomers present in different species of cotton plant (Gossypium species) and even within different tissues in the same plant.
2-5There has been considerable interest in the pharmacological properties of gossypol and it has been shown to be potent as an anti-spermatogenic agent 1,6,7 and anti-tumor agent, 8,9 and to possess activity against the HIV-1 virus 10 and the Entamoeba histolytica organism responsible for amoebiasis. 11,12 In all these cases, the (−)-enantiomer of gossypol has been shown to be substantially more active than the (+)-isomer. [13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21] Interest in studies of the varied biological activities of the enantiomers of gossypol [13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21] and of its unequal enantiomeric distribution in different Malvaceae species [2][3][4][5] has resulted in a need for simple and rapid methods for the analysis of the enantiomeric composition of gossypol samples, as well as for large-scale methods for the resolution of the racemic compound. Previous efforts to resolve gossypol enantiomers directly by HPLC on chiral stationary phases have been unsuccessful, and as a result it was necessary to develop indirect methods, in which gossypol was converted into Schiff's base derivatives that could be separated on either chiral or achiral phases. [22][23][24][25] For the first time, we have now identified conditions suitable for the direct resolution of gossypol enantiomers, using a chiral carbohydrate carbamate phase under reverse phase conditions.
MATERIAL AND METHODS ChemicalsAminopropyl-silica (Hypersil-APS, Shandon, UK) had the following properties: particle size, 5 µm; pore size, 120 Å.Isocyanates were purchased from Aldrich (Milwaukee, WI). Solvents were either HPLC grade from Carlo Erba (Milan, Italy) or were purified as usual. 26 Cellulose used was Avicel from Merck. HPLC dead times (t 0 ) were estimated using acetonitrile. (±)-Gossypol acetic acid was isolated from cotton seeds and its separated (−) and (+) enantiomers obtained as described previously.
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EquipmentThe HPLC system consisted of a Shimadzu LC-10AD pump (Kyoto, Japan), a Rheodyne 7125 injector fitted with a 20-µl ...