A study of mass transfer kinetics in an enantiomeric separation system using a polymeric imprinted stationary phase.

Chromatographic data pertaining to the enantioseparation of L- and D-phenylalanine anilide (PA) on a polymeric stationary phase imprinted with L-PA were studied from the viewpoints of phase equilibrium, mass transfer kinetics, and the thermodynamic properties of this enantiomeric separation system. The concentration dependence of the lumped mass transfer rate coefficient (k(m,L)) previously published was analyzed to obtain new information concerning the mass transfer characteristics in this chiral separation system. It was shown that intraparticle diffusion contributed much more to k(m,L) than adsorption/desorption. The positive concentration dependence of k(m,L) seemed to be interpreted by considering that of the surface diffusion coefficient, itself explained by the heterogeneous surface model. The characteristic features of the phase equilibrium, the mass transfer kinetics, and the thermodynamics of the enantiomeric separation system probably result from the adsorption energy distribution on the surface of the imprinted phase having an exponential decay.