Yoshio Okamoto

Yoshio Okamoto is a Professor Emeritus at Nagoya University, Japan. In 1979, Okamoto’s group obtained the first helix-sense- selective polymerization using triphenylmethyl methacrylate as a monomer and (–)-sparteine-n-BuLi complex as an initiator. The one-handed helical polymer (PTrMA) exhibited unexpected high chiral recognition ability. In 1982, PTrMA-coated silica gel was commercialized as the first synthetic polymer- based chiral column. In 1984, his group discovered excellent chiral recognition abilities with cellulose triphenylcarbamate and, in 1986, its 3,5-dimethyl derivative, which has been commercialized as Chiralcel OD. Okamoto’s group also reported amylose 3,5-dimethylphenylcarbamte (Chiralpak AD) in 1987. The latter two, OD and AD, are still some of the most popular chiral stationary phases used in HPLC and SFC.

Content by Yoshio Okamoto:

Techniques & Tools Liquid Chromatography

Gurus of Chiral Separations

01/20/2015 | Christopher J. Welch, Yoshio Okamoto, Bernard Testa, Wolfgang Lindner

In Lewis Carroll’s 1871 novel, Through the Looking-Glass, Alice suggests to her black kitten, “Perhaps Looking-Glass milk isn’t good to drink...” And though our four gurus don’t attempt to predict the potability of milk from a mirror world, they keenly address the broader significance of chirality, the major milestones in chiral analysis, and where the field is heading.