Preparation and application of novel polysulfone chiral membranes for the separation of tryptophan enantiomers

To preparate a novel polysulfone chiral membranes, β-cyclodextrin was functionalized with dodecanoyl chloride, and this modified β-cyclodextrin was then incorporated into polysulfone casting solution to form the dodecanoyl-β-cyclodextrin/polysulfone chiral membrane. Meanwhile, current studies have investigated the effect of adding different amount of dodecanoyl-β-cyclodextrin on the pure water flux, bovine serum albumin(BSA)rejection rate and enantioselectivity of the membranes. The morphology of the dodecanoyl-β-cyclodextrin/polysulfone chiral membrane was characterized by scanning electron microscopy(SEM). With the incorporation of dodecanoyl-β-cyclodextrin, the pore structure of the membrane changed significantly, with more finger-like pore structures appearing in the support layer. So the membrane water flux increased significantly, while the BSA rejection rate decreased. When the addition amount of dodecanoyl-β-cyclodextrin was in the range of 2% to 3. 5%, the enantiomeric excess increased with the addition of dodecanoyl-β-cyclodextrin. A complete separation of racemic tryptophan can be performed using this novel dodecanoyl-β-cyclodextrin/polysulfone chiral membrane-based separation system.