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Roy Helmy

Publications and source records attributed to Roy Helmy.

10 recordsLinked to original sources

Development of a gradient elution preparative high performance liquid chromatography method for the recovery of the antibiotic ertapenem from crystallization process streams.

A gradient elution preparative chromatography method was developed for the recovery of the antibiotic ertapenem from crystallization mother-liquor streams. The preparative HPLC method that was developed on the lab-scale employs an analytical size column of conventional dimensions (25 cm x 0.46 cm) packed with Kromasil C8 stationary phase. Gradient elution was used with aqueous acetic acid and acetonitrile as mobile phases. A target of processing approximately 30 mg of ertapenem per half an hour at a flow rate of 1.5 mL/min with high yield and adequate rejection of all major impurities was achieved. This corresponds to a productivity of approximately 0.6 kg ertapenem as free acid per kilogram of stationary phase per day (kkd). The scalability of the method was demonstrated by using a 5 cm i.d. column configuration to generate 10 g of purified ertapenem. This work complements a previous study improving on the productivity and throughput of the method by employing gradient elution and the use of crystallization to remove some key impurities that are chromatographically difficult to resolve [A. Vailaya, P. Sajonz, O. Sudah, V. Capodanno, R. Helmy, F.D. Antia, J. Chromatogr. A 1079 (2005) 80].

Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid↗

Wetting in hydrophobic nanochannels: a challenge of classical capillarity.

We report an investigation of the water-hydrophobic interface in well-defined nanochannels (R approximately 2-4 nm). Wetting in these systems cannot be described by classical (macroscopic) capillary theory: (1) water occupies only a fraction ( approximately 60%) of the pore volume, and (2) the capillary pressures are approximately 60-90% greater than predicted by the Laplace equation. The results suggest the presence of approximately 0.6 nm layer of low-density fluid (vapor) separating water from the hydrophobic solid.

Capillaries↗

Exploiting pH mismatch in preparative high-performance liquid chromatographic recovery of ertapenem from mother liquor streams.

Preparative chromatography was successfully employed to recover ertapenem from mother liquor streams. The recovery process involved concentration of mother liquor stream by evaporation, purification by reversed-phase preparative high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), and removal of chromatographic solvents in the recovered fractions by evaporation. HPLC feed was prepared by stripping off the organic solvents from the mother liquor using a wiped-film evaporator. Purification was first carried out on a 25 cm x 0.46 cm analytical column packed with 10-microm Kromasil C8 particles and then scaled up to a 25 cm x 5 cm preparative column. Gram-level recovery of ertapenem with high purity was achieved by exploiting a novel approach based on pH mismatch between the feed and the eluent. Purified ertapenem streams from preparative HPLC runs were combined, evaporated and recycled into the crystallizer for ertapenem isolation.

Anti-Bacterial Agents↗

Thermal stability of organic monolayers chemically grafted to minerals.

The thermal degradation of monolayers of alkylsilicon hydrides (RSiH(3)), alkylphosphonic acids (RP(O)(OH)(2)), and alkyldimethylchlorosilanes (R(CH(3))(2)SiCl) supported on silica, alumina, titania, zirconia, and calcium hydroxyapatite particles was investigated using thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA). The common feature in the TGA was a dramatic weight loss between approximately 200 and approximately 600 degrees C (N(2) atmosphere), which was not present for bare minerals, and, thus, was assigned to the degradation of the surface grafted organic species. The onset of weight loss and the temperature of maximal weight loss rate (T(MAX)) showed no dependence on the mineral and were determined by the nature of the chemical group directly attached to the surface. The T(MAX) values were approximately 400-450 degrees C (monolayers of RSiH(3) and RP(O)(OH)(2)) and approximately 250 degrees C (monolayers of RSi(CH(3))(2)Cl). The activation energies (E(A)) of the degradation processes were determined using TGA at multiple heating rates. Surprisingly, the substrate material did not show a significant effect on E(A). For example, all the monolayers of octadecyl groups (R=C(18)H(37)) supported on silica, alumina, titania, and zirconia showed closed E(A) values approximately 265+/-15 kJ/mol. The weight loss, IR, MS, and chemical analysis data suggested that monolayer degradation occurred through pyrolysis of the hydrocarbon moieties (R groups) via cleavage of the CC and SiC (monolayers of silanes) or CC and PC bonds (monolayers of phosphonic acids). The inorganic portion of the molecule remained attached to the surface of the mineral (presumably as silicates or phosphates).

Journal Article↗

Selectivity of amylose tris(3,5-dimethylphenyl-carbamate) chiral stationary phase as a function of its structure altered by changing concentration of ethanol or 2-propanol mobile-phase modifier.

In a previous publication, solid-state NMR data showed that the structure of Chiralpak AD chiral stationary phase (CSP) was altered by changing the concentration of ethanol or 2-propanol modifier in the chromatographic mobile phase. This present paper reports the effect of the CSP structural change on chiral selectivity alpha. The enantiomers of a series of compounds were chromatographed using ethanol or 2-propanol in various concentrations as mobile-phase modifier and the alpha values were determined. Changes of alpha were observed for some enantiomeric pairs when ethanol and 2-propanol concentrations were varied. These data correlate with previous findings on the structural changes of the CSP. Not every enantiomeric pair showed changes in alpha as the alcohol concentration was varied, indicating that the chiral selectivity depends not only on the CSP's structure, but also on the structures of the analytes.

2-Propanol↗

Identification of a trace colored impurity in drug substance by preparative liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry.

6-(Nitrooxy)hexyl-(2z)-4-(acetyloxy)-3-[4-(methylsulfonyl)phenyl]-2-phenylbut-2-enoate (enoate 1) was investigated as a novel therapy for pain relief. In a recent manufacturing run at the pilot plant scale, the enoate drug substance was found to have a yellowish color not observed previously. An unknown impurity at trace level was detected by high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) analysis and found to be the primary cause for the color of the drug substance. The colored impurity was enriched by preparative HPLC and structurally elucidated by liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS). It was found that the colored impurity was derived from the product of oxidative dimerization of rofecoxib, an impurity present in the enoic acid intermediate. It was further revealed by the photodiode array and LC/MS/MS data that the colored impurity exists in the drug substance as a pair of double-bond isomers with one isomer at majority. These findings were also confirmed by synthesizing the colored impurity through the proposed pathway.

Butyrates↗

Reaction of organosilicon hydrides with solid surfaces: an example of surface-catalyzed self-assembly.

The solution-phase reactions of octadecylsilane (C(18)H(37)SiH(3)) with 10 high surface area metal oxides (groups II-VIII) were investigated. C(18)H(37)SiH(3) reacted with most metal oxides at room temperature and produced supported monolayers (self-assembled monolayers, SAMs) with a high grafting density of C(18), approximately 4.5-5 groups/nm(2). According to the FTIR and (29)Si NMR spectra, molecules in the SAMs demonstrated "horizontal" cross-linking (Si-O-Si and Si-OH.HO-Si bonds) and little or no "vertical" bonds with the metal oxide forming an amorphous, yet ordered film. Also, approximately 3 mol of H(2) was formed per each mole of grafted C(18), indicating complete hydrolysis of C(18)H(37)SiH(3) during the reaction. On the basis of the activity of different metal oxides, we concluded that the hydrolysis of C(18)H(37)SiH(3), the key step in the reaction mechanism, is catalyzed by water adsorbed on acidic and basic centers (Lewis and Brönsted) of the surface of metal oxide. Metal oxides and solids with weak acidic and basic properties, like silica, carbon, and organic polymers, do not react with C(18)H(37)SiH(3). Increasing the temperature of the reaction or doping neutral surfaces with acids or bases greatly increases their activity in the reaction with RSiH(3).

Journal Article↗

Excited-state acid-base chemistry: evidence for a dissociative excited state.

Excitation (410 nm) of the bimetallic [(bpy)(2)Ru(CN)(mu-CN)Rh(NH(3))(4)Br](2+) produces the MLCT state localized on the (bpy)(2)Ru(CN)(2) ligand. Photoinduced cleavage of the bimetallic occurs in the presence of [H(+)], and the dependence yields a K(a) equivalent to that for ground-state cis-(bpy)(2)Ru(CN)(2) implying separation of the bimetallic prior to relaxation. The pH dependence and the emissivity of a bimetallic composed of components that individually quench at a diffusion controlled rate suggest that rupture of the RuCN-Rh bond is due to the reduction in electron density at the cyano ligand that occurs on population of the MLCT state. Unlike known photoinduced metal ligand dissociations, where the excitation energy is consumed in the dissociation, the dissociated "(bpy)(2)Ru(CN)(2) ligand" remains excited.

Journal Article↗

Characterization and quantitation of aprepitant drug substance polymorphs by attenuated total reflectance fourier transform infrared spectroscopy.

In this study, we report the use of attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FT-IR) for the identification and quantitation of two polymorphs of Aprepitant, a substance P antagonist for chemotherapy-induced emesis. Mixtures of the polymorph pair were prepared by weight and ATR-FT-IR spectra of the powdered samples were obtained over the wavelength range of 700-1500 cm(-1). Significant spectral differences between the two polymorphs at 1140 cm(-1) show that ATR-FT-IR can provide definitive identification of the polymorphs. To investigate the feasibility of ATR-FT-IR for quantitation of polymorphic forms of Aprepitant, a calibration plot was constructed with known mixtures of the two polymorphs by plotting the peak ratio of the second derivative of absorbance spectra against the weight percent of form II in the polymorphic mixture. Using this novel approach, 3 wt % of one crystal form could be detected in mixtures of the two polymorphs. The accuracy of ATR-FT-IR in determining polymorph purity of the drug substance was tested by comparing the results with those obtained by X-ray powder diffractometry (XRPD). Indeed, polymorphic purity results obtained by ATR-FT-IR were found to be in good agreement with the predictions made by XRPD and compared favorably with actual values in the known mixtures. The present study clearly demonstrates the potential of ATR-FT-IR as a quick, easy, and inexpensive alternative to XRPD for the determination of polymorphic identity and purity of solid drug substances. The technique is ideally suited for polymorph analysis, because it is precise, accurate, and requires minimal sample preparation.

Drug Contamination↗

Concentration determination of methyl magnesium chloride and other Grignard reagents by potentiometric titration with in-line characterization of reaction species by FTIR spectroscopy.

A potentiometric titration method for methyl magnesium chloride and other Grignard reagents based on the reaction with 2-butanol in THF has been developed and validated. The method employs a commercially available platinum electrode, using an electrolyte compatible with non-aqueous solvents. Well-defined titration curves were obtained, along with excellent method precision. The endpoint was precisely determined based on the first derivative of the titration curve. Different solvents such as THF, diethyl ether and methylene chloride provided similar results with regard to sharpness of the endpoint and method precision. The method was applied to a wide array of Grignard reagents including methyl magnesium bromide, ethyl magnesium chloride, propyl magnesium chloride, vinyl magnesium chloride, phenyl magnesium chloride, and benzyl magnesium chloride with similar precision and accuracy. Application of in-line FTIR was demonstrated for in situ monitoring of the titration reaction, allowing characterization of the reaction species. An authentic spectrum of the MeMgCl-THF complex was obtained using spectral subtraction and the vibrational absorbance bands were identified. FTIR also provided an alternative for detecting the titration endpoint, and the titration results so obtained, provided a cross-validation of the accuracy of the potentiometric titration.

Butanols↗