A high throughput dried DMSO Log D lipophilicity measurement based on 96-well shake-flask and atmospheric pressure photoionization mass spectrometry detection

A rapid throughput octanol–water lipophilicity measurement based on 96-well shake-flask and LC/UV/APPI/MS is described. The method utilizes central liquid storage where compounds are stored as 10 mM solutions in dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO). The DMSO is subsequently removed to generate solid like material used for Log D measurement. The removal of DMSO minimizes the concern for potential DMSO cosolvent effect on the measured value. Sample preparation is automated using a liquid handling workstation with 96-well pipetter. Both octanol and buffer phases are quantified using state of the art ultra-high pressure HPLC coupled with a superficially diffused core reversed-phase column and an atmospheric pressure photo ionization mass spectrometer. The throughput of the method is two days for a batch of 96 compounds. The method has been validated using 72 literature compounds with diverse ionization and Log D values ranging from −2 to +6. The observed coefficient of determination r2 is 0.9973.