Synthesis of teicoplanin-modified hybrid magnetic mesoporous silica nanoparticles and their application in chiral separation of racemic compounds

•A novel kind of chiral nano-selectors was fabricated and characterized.•The teicoplanin-conjugated magnetic nanoparticles were spherical and mesoporous.•The chiral magnetic selectors were effective in a direct separation of racemates.•These magnetic materials were easily separated from racemic solutions by a magnet.•The functional magnetic materials are suitable for enantiomer separations.

Teicoplanin-conjugated mesoporous silica magnetic nanoparticles (TE-MSMNPs) were fabricated as novel chiral magnetic nano-selectors. Successful preparation of the functional magnetic mesoporous materials was achieved by grafting teicoplanin on N-(2-aminoethyl)-3-aminopropyltrimethoxysilane-modified mesoporous silica Fe3O4 magnetic nanoparticles (AEAPTMS-MSMNPs), and this was confirmed by various characterization techniques. The synthesized magnetic nanoparticles were regularly spherical and uniformly mesoporous with an average diameter of around 600 nm and a mean pore size of about 3.9 nm, respectively. These versatile magnetic nanoparticles were effective in a direct chiral separation of five racemic compounds in phosphate buffer. Much stronger interactions were observed with the (+)-enantiomers than with the (−)-enantiomers. After washing with water and ethanol by sonication, TE-MSMNPs could be reused at least three times with little efficiency loss. The functional magnetic mesoporous nanoparticles were easily separated from the racemic solutions using an external magnetic field. These magnetic nano-materials are suitable for enantiomer separations.

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