The compound SG-10 is an agonist of the nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain-containing protein 2 (NOD2). NOD2 play a very important role in the regulation of the innate immune system since their activation causes secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines and antimicrobial peptides. In addition to innate immune response activation, binding of agonistic ligands to NOD2 also affects the adaptive immune system, and could, therefore, be used as a vaccine adjuvant. Currently, only four individual adjuvants and their combinations are available on the market; consequently, the discovery of novel adjuvants is of utmost importance.
During the synthesis of SG-10, a racemic mixture of acid was attached to the chirally pure peptide incorporating two stereocenters, thus the resulting product is a mixture of two diastereomers. Given the fact that SG-10 proved to be a potent NOD2 agonist, it is very important to isolate both diastereomers and ascertain whether one of them exhibits an even lower EC50 value compared to the racemate.
In this Master’s thesis, we used reverse-phase ultra-high performance liquid chromatography and normal-phase high performance liquid chromatography systems to separate two analytes on a milligram scale. Firstly, reverse-phase ultra-high performance liquid chromatography system and a variety of different columns were used, such as C18 columns, phenyl columns of two different lengths and the Shield RP18 column. Despite changing the composition of the mobile phase (with the main solvent variations (water and 0.1% trifluoroacetic acid) and the variations of the type (ethanol and acetonitrile) as well as the amounts (from 5% to 95%) of the organic modifier) the peaks could not be separated at the baseline. On the other hand, the use of normal-phase high performance liquid chromatography system and the 3-CelluCoat® analytical column proved to be successful in terms of separation. We developed and optimized the separation method using the 3-CelluCoat® analytical column and then transferred it to the semi-preparative scale using 5-CelluCoat® column. The analytes were separately collected and isolated thereby obtaining 1.65 mg or 1.76 mg of each diastereomer, as determined by re-analysis with the 3-CelluCoat column. We also determined that during the synthesis of SG-10 a 20% excess of one of the diastereomers was formed.
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