Development of a Semi-Preparative Method for Chiral Separation of Ibuprofen and Ketoprofen Racemic Mixtures by Supercritical Fluid Chromatography

Highly efficient analytical methods for separating racemic mixtures of ibuprofen and ketoprofen by supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC) have been developed using a chiral stationary phase based on amylose and supercritical carbon dioxide in combination with a co-solvent as a mobile phase. Optimum values of resolution and selectivity for each pair of enantiomers were achieved in both the isocratic and gradient modes. It was found that the separation efficiency significantly depends on the co-solvent content in the mobile phase. The possibility of scaling up the developed methods for semi-preparative analysis was assessed.