Using chiral magnetic surface molecularly imprinted polymers for chiral separation of Ofloxacin

Ofloxacin is an important drug with anti-bacterial effects, and (–)-ofloxacin has been shown to have better anti-bacterial activity than racemic ofloxacin. But the chiral resolution of compounds is a major challenge worldwide. Many methods do not show high specificity to target molecules, causing errors in the separation of these pharmaceutical molecules, thus affecting the purity of drugs. The paper mainly researches on a method for quick resolution of ofloxacin using chiral magnetic surface molecular imprinting polymers. Fe₃O₄ magnetic nanoparticles coated with silica is acted as the substrate. The Chiral reagent is N-octyl-D-glucosamine as the monomer, with ofloxacin as the template molecules to prepare magnetic surface molecularly imprinted polymer. The chiral polymer can be combined with ( +)-ofloxacin, eventually (-)-ofloxacin was isolated. Finally, by using external magnetic field and transmission electron microscopy, the character of magnetic surface molecularly imprinted polymer is tested, and the product was tested by ultraviolet spectrum and optical rotation tests and was confirmed to be (-)-ofloxacin. A simple, rapid, and cost-effective method for separating chiral compounds was established.