Preparation and application of a chiral Am7CD-modified COF composite membrane by interfacial polymerization

Membrane separation technology has infinite potential to produce optically pure drugs. However, there are still challenges regarding chiral membranes, such as the single separation object, poor mechanical properties, and constrained relationship between permeability and enantioselectivity. To improve the membrane properties, heptakis (6-amino-6-deoxy)-β-CD-modified carboxyl-functionalized COF (TpBD-Am7CD) was introduced as a chiral functional material for the preparation of a TpBD-Am7CD stainless steel I-Net cellulose acetate membrane (COF/SSCAM) via interfacial polymerization. Using tryptophan as the template molecule, the membrane preparation and filtration conditions were optimized to achieve maximum enantioselectivity. The optimized COF/SSCAM achieved a better enantiomeric excess percentage (e.e.% = 100.00%) and solute permeation flux (JS = 37 × 10−6 mol m−2 h−1) for racemic tryptophan than the support membrane, which was attributed to the enantioselectivity and hydrophilicity of TpBD-Am7CD. Moreover, COF/SSCAM achieved enantiomeric separation of racemates of propranolol, warfarin, atenolol, and metoprolol, and the e.e.% values were 39.51%, 5.60%, 16.04%, and 3.09%, respectively. In addition, the chiral recognition mechanism was investigated by molecular docking simulation.