A Simple Chiral ¹H NMR Method for the Discrimination of (R)- and (S)‑Cannabichromene in Complex Natural Mixtures and Their Effects on TRPA1 Activity

In recent years, the enantiomeric ratio of cannabichromene (CBC) within the cannabis plant has attracted significant attention. Cannabichromene is one of the well-known cannabinoids found in cannabis, along with THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) and CBD (cannabidiol). Cannabichromene exists as a scalemic mixture, meaning it has two enantiomers, (S)-cannabichromene and (R)-cannabichromene, with the ratio between these enantiomers varying among different cannabis strains and even within individual plants. This study presents an accurate and robust chiral NMR method for analyzing cannabichromene’s enantiomeric ratio, a well-investigated cannabinoid with numerous pharmacological targets. The use of Pirkle’s alcohol as the chiral solvating agent (CSA) or, alternatively, the use of (S)-ibuprofen as a chiral derivatizing agent (CDA) facilitated this analysis. Moreover, the chiral NMR method proves to be a user-friendly tool, easily applicable within any NMR facility, and an expanded investigation of cannabichromene chirality may provide insights into the origin, cultivation, treatment, and processing of Cannabis sativa plants. This study also undertakes a pharmacological examination of the (R)- and (S)-cannabichromenes concerning their most extensively studied pharmacological target, the TRPA1 channels, with the two enantiomers showing the same strong agonistic effect as the racemic mixture.