Adsorption equilibrium and kinetic study of guaifenesin enantiomers on cellulose tris 3,5-dimethylphenylcarbamate packed column

• Adsorption isotherm of racemic guaifenesin on Chiralcel OD was measured.
• Adsorption kinetic of racemic guaifenesin on Chiralcel OD was studied.
• Separation process of racemic guaifenesin was predicted by chromatographic model.
• Chromatographic model included the column model and extra column dead volume.

The chromatographic separation of guaifenesin enantiomers using hexanes/ethanol mobile phase and cellulose tris 3,5-dimethylphenylcarbamate stationary phase (Chiralcel OD) was investigated, where the column was packed with particle size 20 μm of chiral adsorbents. The adsorption equilibrium isotherms of single enantiomer and racemic compounds of guaifenesin on Chiralcel OD stationary phase were measured by the frontal analysis and the adsorption–desorption method, respectively. Then, the experimental data were fitted with the Linear + Langmuir isotherm model, and the relative model parameters for the competitive adsorption equilibrium isotherm of guaifenesin enantiomers were obtained by the nonlinear regression method. Both the elution and adsorption–desorption experiments for the separation of guaifenesin enantiomers on the Chiralcel OD packed column were carried out. The measured elution curves and adsorption–desorption profiles were compared with the theoretical predictions by mathematical model, and adsorption kinetics, separation efficiency, the effect of dead volume were discussed. According to experiments and modeling, the competitive adsorption equilibrium and kinetics information were acquired for the scale up and optimization of the separation of guaifenesin enantiomers by both batch and continuous chromatographic system.