Development of methods for the separation of propiconazole stereoisomers using liquid chromatography

Propiconazole is a 1,2,3-triazole fungicide used against fungal diseases, rust and powdery mildew in various crops. It is a chiral compound and has 4 stereoisomers: 2R,4S; 2S, 4R; 2R, 4R; 2S, 4S. Isomers with the 2S absolute configuration are more effective inhibitors of ergosterol biosynthesis than the corresponding 2R isomers. Additionally, different pathogenic fungal species have different biological response to each stereoisomer. This raises the interest of an in-depth study of their properties as well as the development of methods for proper separation of stereoisomers. The aim of the study is to develop a method to separate stereoisomers of propiconazole utilizing liquid chromatography. In order to obtain the desired result, the effectiveness of different chiral polysaccharide-based columns using different mobile phases was tested for the separation of propiconazole stereoisomers. According to the separation parameters obtained, Lux i-Amylose-3 column and mobile phase of EtOH/H2O(70/30) with 5mM Ammonium acetate was selected for method validation.

Lecture files: