Product purity is a crucial parameter for the success of your experiments. However, often, the different suppliers for the desired compound are only rated by price per gram/package as well as the delivery time, even though the purity and – depending on the compound and planned experiment – the enantiomeric purity are numeric key values.

When preparing for an experiment, the equivalents required as well as the amount to weigh in are calculated relying on the compound’s molecular weight AND high purity. If the content of the desired compound per weight is lower than expected, e.g. due to impurities, experiments might fail and product yields are decreased and product purification might become extremely difficult, time-consuming or even almost impossible.

While product purities are typically measured either by HPLC or by NMR spectroscopy, enantiomeric purities require special attention. The term enantiomeric purity is used for chiral substances and reflects the percentage of desired enantiomer within the sample. The enantiomeric purity, e.g. of an amino acid, can be determined by different technologies. Chiral HPLC for example can be used for compounds containing a chromophoric group such as Fmoc, which is required for the detection with a UV detector. The lower selectivity of the chromatographic column is often compensated by the selectivity of the detector. Besides, the enantiomeric purity can be determined by GC-MS. In this method, the racemization during hydrolysis and derivatization is paralleled by deuterium exchange in the alpha-position. Thus, the proportion of D-amino acid originally present is represented by the relative amounts of the unlabeled form, which is monitored by mass spectrometry. Besides, chiral purity can also be determined using Marfey’s reagent.

➔ Many of our products show an enantiomeric purity ≥ 99,7% and a purity ≥ 98%.
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References:

https://www.cat-online.com/enantiomeric%20purity.html