Specific cooperative effect for the enantiomeric separation of amino acids using aqueous two-phase systems with task-specific ionic liquids

Aqueous two-phase systems (ATPS) based on hydrophilic ionic liquid (IL) and inorganic salt solution were designed and prepared for the enantiomeric separation of racemic amino acids. Two different kinds of hydrophilic ionic liquids (IL-1 and IL-2) containing functional groups were synthesized to separate racemic amino acids. Preliminary experiments showed that d-enantiomer of amino acids cooperatively interacted with ILs, which pushed d-enantiomer to remain in the bottom IL-rich phase. By contrast, l-enantiomer was transferred into the top Na2SO4-rich phase. The enantioselectivity of IL-1 was better than that of IL-2 because of their different intermolecular interactions. Various factors influencing separation efficiency were also systematically investigated including extraction time, IL volume and temperature. Furthermore, the mechanism was studied by 1H NMR and DFT calculations, which showed that the hydrogen bond between the carboxylate and amide groups and the resonance-assisted hydrogen bond between amino and hydroxyl groups conditioned the movement between the residues and ILs. Finally, IL-1 was validated with other general amino acids by the same procedures based on ATPS.