Rapid enantiomeric separation of polychlorinated biphenyls by electrokinetic chromatography using mixtures of neutral and charged cyclodextrin derivatives

Electrokinetic chromatography with cyclodextrin derivatives (CD-EKC) was used to achieve the rapid enantiomeric separation of chiral polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). Thirteen of the 19 chiral PCBs stable at room temperature were individually separated into their two enantiomers by using 2-morpholinoethanesulfonic acid (MES) buffer (pH 6.5) containing carboxymethylated gamma-cyclodextrin (CM-gamma-CD) as pseudostationary phase mixed with beta-cyclodextrin (beta-CD) or permethylated beta-cyclodextrin (PM-beta-CD). Urea was also added to increase the solubility of PCBs and cyclodextrins in the aqueous separation buffer. Several experimental parameters such as the nature, concentration, and pH of the buffer, nature and concentration of the cyclodextrin derivatives used, and the addition of different additives were studied in order to improve the enantiomeric separation. In addition, the effect of some instrumental parameters such as separation temperature and applied voltage was also investigated. PCBs were enantiomerically separated in less than 12 min by using a 50 mM MES buffer (pH 6.5) containing 20 mM CM-gamma-CD, 10 mM beta-CD or 20 mM PM-beta-CD, and 2 M urea at a temperature of 45 degrees C and an applied voltage of 20 kV.     

The use of a highly sulfated cyclodextrin for the simultaneous chiral separation of amphetamine-type stimulants by capillary electrophoresis

We investigated the simultaneous chiral separation of nine amphetamine type stimulants (dl-norephedrine, dl-norpseudoephedrine, dl-ephedrine, dl-pseudoephedrine, dl-amphetamine, dl-methamphetamine, dl-methylenedioxyamphetamine (MDA), dl-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), and dl-methylenedioxyethylamphetamine (MDEA)) by capillary electrophoresis using highly sulfated gamma-cyclodextrin (SU(XIII)-gamma-CD) as a chiral selector. Three different approaches using SU(XIII)-gamma-CD with 50 mM phosphate background electrolyte were designed; (I) high CD concentration (10 mM SU(XIII)-gamma-CD) at neutral pH (pH 7.0) in the normal polarity mode, (II) low CD concentration (1.0 mM) at low pH (pH 2.6) in the normal polarity mode and (III) high CD concentration at low pH (pH 2.6) in the reversed-polarity mode. In mode (II), the effects of adding three neutral CDs (beta-CD, dimethyl-beta-CD and hydroxypropyl-beta-CD) were also investigated. The best separation was obtained after optimizing mode (III) as follows: run buffer of 10 mM SU(XIII)-gamma-CD with 50 mM phosphate background electrolyte at pH 2.6, applied voltage of -12 kV and capillary temperature of 15 degrees C.     

Enantiomeric separation of citalopram and its metabolites by capillary electrophoresis

A simple and fast capillary electrophoretic method has been developed for the enantioselective separation of citalopram and its main metabolites, namely N-desmethylcitalopram and N,N-didesmethylcitalopram, using beta-cyclodextrin (beta-CD) sulfate as the chiral selector. For method optimisation several parameters were investigated, such as CD and buffer concentration, buffer pH, and capillary temperature. Baseline enantioseparation of the racemic compounds was achieved in less than 6 min using a fused-silica capillary, filled with a background electrolyte consisting of a 35 mM phosphate buffer at pH 2.5 supplemented with 1% w/v beta-CD sulfate and 0.05% w/v beta-CD at 25 degrees C and applying a voltage of -20 kV. A fast separation method for citalopram was also optimized and applied to the analysis of pharmaceutical formulations. Racemic citalopram was resolved in its enantiomers in less than 1.5 min using short-end injection (8.5 cm, effective length) running the experiments in a background electrolyte composed of a 25 mM citrate buffer at pH 5.5 and 0.04% w/v beta-CD sulfate at a temperature of 10 degrees C.     

Separation and migration behavior of structurally related phenothiazines in cyclodextrin-modified capillary zone electrophoresis

The influences of buffer pH and the concentration of beta-cyclodextrins (beta-CDs) on the separation and migration behavior of 13 structurally related phenothiazines in CD-modified capillary zone electrophoresis (CD-CZE) using a phosphate background electrolyte at low pH were investigated. We focused on the separation of these phenothiazines, including the enantiomers of chiral analytes, with the use of beta-CD and hydroxypropyl-beta-CD (HP-beta-CD) as electrolyte modifiers or chiral selectors at concentrations less than 8 mM. The results indicate that the interactions of phenothiazines with beta-CDs are very strong and that effective separations of 13 analytes can be achieved with addition of 0.3 mM beta-CD or 0.5 mM HP-beta-CD in a phosphate buffer at pH 3.0. Binding constants of phenothiazines to beta-CDs were evaluated for a better understanding of the interactions of phenothiazines with beta-CDs.     

Cyclodextrin-mediated micellar electrokinetic chromatography and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry for the enantiomer separation of racemorphan in human urine.

Micellar electrokinetic chromatography (MEKC) was successfully and conveniently applied to the chiral separation with the addition of cyclodextrins (CDs) as chiral selector to the running buffer. Chiral separation depended on the type of CD; in particular, beta-CD was effective for the chiral separation of racemorphan. We investigated the optimal conditions of type and concentration of CD as chiral selector for the routine enantiomeric separation of racemorphan with good reproducibility. The effects of other parameters such as buffer pH and detection wavelength were also investigated to obtain the optimum conditions for the enantiomeric separation of racemorphan. Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry was used for confirmation of racemorphan. The optimal conditions for enantiomeric separation of the racemorphan were as follows: 50 mM borate buffer at pH 9.4 with 50 mM SDS, 10 mM beta-CD and 20% 1-propanol, 57 cm x 50 microns fused-silica capillary column, and UV detection at 192 nm. Based on the developed method, racemorphan in human urine was also separated and determined using solid-phase extraction and MEKC.     

Chiral separation of amino acids derivatized with fluoresceine-5isothiocyanate by capillary electrophoresis and laser-induced fluorescence detection using mixed selectors of beta-cyclodextrin and sodium taurocholate

Chiral separation of 20 pairs of amino acids derivatized with fluoresceine-5-isothiocyanate (FITC) by capillary electrophoresis and laser-induced fluorescence detection was studied using the mixture of beta-cyclodextrin (beta-CD) and sodium taurocholate (STC) as selector. Resolution was considerably superior to that obtained by using either beta-CD or STC alone. The molar ratio of beta-CD to STC of about 2:3 was found to be critical to achieve maximum separation. At this beta-CD-to-STC ratio, chiral separation occurred at really low total concentration of beta-CD and STC (<0.1 mM). Other impacting factors were investigated including the total concentration of beta-CD and STC, pH, and capillary conditioning procedure between two successive runs. Using a running buffer of 80 mM borate containing 20 mM beta-CD and 30 mM STC at pH 9.3, all of the 20 pairs of FITC-amino acid enantiomers were baseline resolved. The resolutions of the most pairs of the amino acid enantiomers (17 of 20) were higher than 3.0, only three pairs gave a resolution lower than 3.0 but higher than 1.90 (beta-phenylserine, pSer). The highest resolution reached 14.58 (Glu). Two derivatives of beta-CD, 2-hydroxypropyl-beta-CD (HP-beta-CD) and heptakis(2,6-di-O-methyl)-beta-CD (DM-beta-CD) were also explored. HP-beta-CD showed similar cooperative effect with STC, while DM-beta-CD together with STC led to poorer chiral separation.     

Enantioseparation of phenothiazines in cyclodextrin-modified micellar electrokinetic chromatography

In this study, enantioseparations of five phenothiazines in cyclodextrin (CD)-modified micellar electrokinetic chromatography (MEKC) were investigated using a citrate buffer containing tetradecyltrimethylammonium bromide (TTAB) as a cationic surfactant at low pH. Beta-cyclodextrin (beta-CD) and hydroxylpropyl-beta-CD (HP-beta-CD) were selected as chiral selectors. The results indicate that the separation window is greatly enlarged by beta-CD concentration and that the separability and selectivity of phenothiazines are remarkably influenced by the concentrations of both beta-CD and TTAB, as well as buffer pH. The interaction of thioridazine with beta-CDs is considerably reduced in the presence of TTAB micelles due to competitive complexation of thioridazine with TTAB micelles, which is pH-dependent. As a result, effective enantioseparation of thioridazine is simultaneously achievable with that of trimeprazine and promethazine or ethopropazine in MEKC with addition of either beta-CD or HP-beta-CD, respectively, to a micellar citrate buffer containing TTAB at pH 3.5. Better enantioresolution of thioridazine in MEKC than in capillary zone electrophoresis can be obtained.     

Separation and migration behavior of positional and structural naphthalenesulfonate isomers by cyclodextrin-mediated capillary electrophoresis

The effects of the type of buffer system, buffer pH, the polarity of electrode, and both the type and the concentration of cyclodextrins (CDs) on the separation and migration behavior of seven positional and structural naphthalenesulfonate isomers in CD-mediated capillary electrophoresis were systematically investigated. The most effective separation conditions were to use 20 mM phosphate buffer with beta-CD at pH 3.0, while the polarity of the electrodes were reversed across the capillary. Under such conditions, these isomers can be separated in 10 min. The results also indicate that the interactions of naphthalenesulfonate derivatives with CDs are strongly affected by the position of the substituent(s) on the aromatic ring. The inclusion complex formation constants of these compounds were evaluated to improve our understanding of the interaction between the naphthalenesulfonate derivatives and CDs. Moreover, the formation constants of naphthalene-2-sulfonate to beta-CD agreed closely with the data in the literature obtained by a spectrophotometric method and by CE methods in various pH buffers.     

Influence of buffer substances and urea on the beta-cyclodextrin-mediated chiral separation of dipeptides in CE

The influence of buffering substances and urea on the beta-CD-mediated chiral separations of the dipeptides Ala-Phe and Ala-Tyr was studied in the pH range of 2.5-3.8. Only minor effects of the buffer substances on the chiral separation selectivity alpha were observed at a beta-CD concentration of 15 mg/mL. In contrast, the selectivity improved at pH 2.5 but decreased at pH 3.8 upon the addition of 2 M urea. Complexation by beta-CD resulted in a shift of the pK(a) values toward higher values which was more pronounced for the DD-enantiomers of both dipeptides than for the LL-enantiomers. Addition of urea further increased the pK(a) shift. The consequence of this pK(a) shift is an increase of the fraction of the protonated, positively charged form of the peptides which explained the improved chiral separation at pH 2.5 and the reduced selectivity at pH 3.8. A pK(a) shift by the addition of urea was also observed for N-tert-butyloxycarbonyl phenylalanine (BOC-Phe) as a model compound that is strongly complexed by beta-CD. This effect was not stereospecific. Addition of urea resulted in a decrease of the apparent complexation constants between beta-CD and the BOC-Phe enantiomers to the same extent but this did not affect the separation selectivity alpha. For chiral separations that display strong pH dependence such as peptide enantioseparations close to the pK(a) values of the compounds, urea may not solely be regarded as a solubility enhancer for beta-CD but may also influence the separation.     

Strategies in method development to quantify enantiomeric impurities using CE

The growing number of chiral new drug substances requires increasing efforts in developing enantioselective methods. According to International conference on Harmonization guidelines, one should quantify the enantiomeric impurity of 0.1% relative to the major constituent. Capillary electrophoresis has evolved into an important tool for the separation of chiral drugs. The common strategies consist of two steps: firstly, initial separation conditions are evaluated. This screening usually focuses on the selection of the appropriate chiral selector. In our study 22 neutral, anionic or cationic cyclodextrins were dissolved in phosphate buffer (pH 2.5, 50 mM, CD conc.: 2.0%). Then they were investigated for the separation of 14 chiral compounds. Secondly, the obtained initial conditions for the enantiomeric separation were optimized in terms of resolution and analysis time. In our approach, important optimized factors including the concentration of the chiral selector (1-10%), the pH of the buffer (2.0-9.0), and the percentage of organic modifier (0-15%) were studied.This common strategy was completed by elaborating final requirements for the quantification of the enantiomeric impurity. A resolution between 3 and 4 was found to be necessary for the racemic mixture during the screening and optimization steps, in order to later allow for peak overloading and thus to sufficiently increase the signal-to-noise ratio. The complete strategy was conducted for atenolol, isoprenaline, verapamil and mandelic acid.     

Chiral CE separation of dopamine-derived neurotoxins.

An enantiomeric separation of dopamine-derived neurotoxins by capillary electrophoresis has been developed. Tetrahydroisoquinoline (TIQ), dopamine (DA), (R/S)-1-benzyl-TIQ (BTIQ), (R/S)-6,7-dihydroxy-1-methyl-TIQ (salsolinol, Sal), and (R/S)-6,7-dihydroxy-1, 2-dimethyl-TIQ (N-methyl-salsolinol, NMSal) were studied as model compounds. The CE running buffer (50 mM phosphate buffer at pH 3.0) contained 1.5 M urea and 12 mM beta-CD as a chiral selector. During separation, the (R)-enantiomers formed more stable inclusion complexes with beta-CD, and thus had a longer migration time than their optical antipodes. It was noticed that the recovery rates of these TIQ derivatives were very poor (< 15%) during protein precipitation, a procedure widely used for cleaning up biological samples. The recovery was significantly improved by pre-mixing the sample with a surfactant (e.g., sodium hexanesulfonate or Triton X-100) to reduce the co-precipitation. The present method in combination with electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (ESI-MS/MS) was applied to study samples obtained from in vitro incubation of two catecholamines, dopamine and epinine, with aldehydes forming neurotoxins including (S)- and (R)-NMSal enantiomers. The later is known to induce Parkinsonism in rats.     

毛细管区带电泳法拆分手性药物萘普生和氟联苯丙酸

 70-72 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 以β-环糊精(CD)作为手性选择剂 ,用毛细管区带电泳法成功地拆分了两种弱酸性药物萘普生(naproxen)和氟联苯丙酸(flurb iprofen),并比较了4种环糊精［β-环糊精(β-CD)、二甲基-β-环糊精( DM-β-CD)、羟丙基-β-环糊精(HP-β-CD)和三甲基-β-环糊精( TM-β-CD)］对手性拆分的影响,同时测定了萘普生对映体在不同环糊精中的出峰次 序。通过实验,发现对于此类化合物拆分的最佳pH值为5左右,即接近于该类化合物的pK a值。该方法适用于酸性手性药物的拆分。     

Comparing cyclodextrin derivatives as chiral selectors for enantiomeric separation in capillary electrophoresis

A total of 26 different cyclodextrin (CD) derivatives with different functional groups and degrees of substitution were tested against 35 basic pharmaceutical compounds in an effort to investigate their effectiveness as chiral selectors for enantiomeric separation in capillary electrophoresis (CE). Testing was performed under the same conditions using a low pH buffer (25 mM phosphate buffer at pH approximately 2.5). Five CD derivatives, namely, highly sulfated-beta-CD, highly sulfated-beta-CD, hydroxypropyl-beta-CD (degree of substitution approximately 1), heptakis-(2,6-O-dimethyl)-beta-CD, and heptakis(2,3,6-O-trimethyl)-beta-CD were identified to be most effective for enantiomeric separations and have a wide range of enantiomeric selectivity towards the model compounds. Over 90% of the model compounds were enantiomerically resolved with the five identified CD derivatives, at a minimum resolution of 0.5. An additional 20 compounds were also tested to demonstrate the validity of the identified CD derivatives. The five CD derivatives were recommended as the starting chiral selectors in developing enantiomeric separation methods by CE.     

用羧甲基聚合环糊精作手性剂的毛细管电泳法分离3种碱性药物

 采用 5种环糊精衍生物对碱性药物硫喷妥钠、盐酸氟桂利嗪、山梗菜碱进行了毛细管区带电泳的手性拆分。结果表明 ,采用含 2 % (质量分数 ,其余相同 )聚合 β 环糊精 (P β CD)或 0 5%羧甲基聚合 β 环糊精 (CM P β CD) 30mmol/L的Tris H3PO4缓冲液可使这 3种药物达到基线分离 ;使用CM P β CD时 ,分离度高达 4～35。     

Fast enantiomeric separation of basis drugs by electrokinetic chromatography. Application to the quantitation of terbutaline in a pharmaceutical preparation

Electrokinetic chromatography (EKC) using micelles of bile salts alone or mixed with sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and neutral, anionic, or cationic cyclodextrins (CDs) in the separation buffer has been employed in order to achieve fast enantiomeric separation of basic drugs. A study of the enantiomeric separation ability of these chiral selectors concerning four basic drugs (epinephrine, terbutaline, clenbuterol, and salbutamol) has been carried out under different experimental conditions. The best chiral selectors to perform the enantiomeric separation of these drugs were neutral beta-CD derivatives, specifically permethylated beta-CD PM-beta-CD. The effect of the PM-beta-CD concentration, temperature, and applied voltage on the enantiomeric resolution of the basic drugs was investigated. The use of a 25 mM ammonium acetate buffer (pH 5.0), 30 mM in PM-beta-CD together with an applied voltage of 20 kV and a temperature of 15 degrees C enabled the individual and fast enantiomeric separation of epinephrine, norepinephrine, terbutaline, clenbuterol, and salbutamol each one into its two enantiomers in less than 3 min. The EKC method was validated (precision and accuracy) to quantitate terbutaline in a pharmaceutical preparation, obtaining a limit of detection of 4 microg/mL.     

Chiral separation of synthetic vicinal diol compounds by capillary zone electrophoresis with borate buffer and beta-cyclodextrin as buffer additive.

The investigation on capillary electrophoretic enantioseparation of six synthetic compounds containing vicinal diol groups has been undertaken to acquire the optimum conditions using native beta-cyclodextrin (beta-CD) as chiral selector and borate as a background electrolyte. The separation was carried out in an uncoated capillary (58.5 cm x 75 microm i.d., effective length 48.5 cm) and the effects of several important factors were investigated in detail. The results showed that beta-CD as a chiral selector exhibited good enantioselectivity and that the enantioseparation was greatly influenced by the structure of the diols, the borate concentration and the buffer pH. The optimum performance was obtained for the chiral vicinal diols under the conditions of 200 mM borate buffer of pH 9.8 containing 1.7% beta-CD at an applied voltage of 15 kV and a capillary temperature of 20 degrees C. Under the conditions, four diols were baseline separated with fast analysis time and the good theoretical plate numbers (above 10 x 10(4)) and favorable migration-time reproducibilities (RSDs below 3.0%) were obtained. The separation results were satisfactory.     

Enantioseparations of hydrobenzoin and structurally related compounds in capillary zone electrophoresis using heptakis(2,3-dihydroxy-6-O-sulfo)-beta-cyclodextrin as chiral selector and enantiomer migration reversal of hydrobenzoin with a dual cyclodextrin system in the presence of borate complexation

We investigated the enantioseparations of racemic hydrobenzoin, together with benzoin and benzoin methyl ether, in capillary electrophoresis (CE) using the single-isomer heptakis(2,3-dihydroxy-6-O-sulfo)-beta-cyclodextrin (SI-S-beta-CD) as a chiral selector in the presence and absence of borate complexation and enantiomer migration reversal of hydrobenzoin with a dual CD system consisting of SI-S-beta-CD and beta-CD in the presence of borate complexation at pH 9.0 in a borate buffer. The enantioselectivity of hydrobenzoin increased remarkably with increasing SI-S-beta-CD concentration and the enantioseparation depended on CD complexation between hydrobenzoin-borate and SI-S-beta-CD. The (S,S)-enantiomer of hydrobenzoin-borate complexes interacted more strongly than the (R,R)-enantiomer with SI-S-beta-CD. The enantiomers of hydrobenzoin could be baseline-resolved in the presence of SI-S-beta-CD at a concentration as low as 0.1% w/v, whereas the three test analytes were simultaneously enantioseparated with addition of 0.3% w/v SI-S-beta-CD or at concentrations >2.0% w/v in a borate buffer and 0.5% w/v in a phosphate background electrolyte at pH 9.0. Compared with the results obtained previously using randomly sulfated beta-CD (MI-S-beta-CD) in a borate buffer, enantioseparation of these three benzoin compounds is more advantageously aided by SI-S-beta-CD as the chiral selector. The enantioselectivity of hydrobenzoin depended greatly on the degree of substitution of sulfated beta-CD. Moreover, binding constants of the enantiomers of benzoin compounds to SI-S-beta-CD and those of hydrobenzoin-borate complexes to SI-S-beta-CD were evaluated for a better understanding of the role of CD complexation in the enantioseparation and chiral recognition. Enantiomer migration reversal of hydrobenzoin could be observed by varying the concentration of beta-CD, while keeping SI-S-beta-CD at a relatively low concentration. SI-S-beta-CD and beta-CD showed the same chiral recognition pattern but they exhibited opposite effects on the mobility of the enantiomers.     

Determination of the gas chromatographic elution sequences of the (+)- and (−)-enantiomers of stable atropisomeric PCBs on Chirasil-dex

Pure enantiomers of chiral (atropisomeric) polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) obtained by high-performance liquid chromatography were used to establish the gas chromatographic elution sequences of the (+)- and (−)-enantiomers of six PCB atropisomers on Chirasil-Dex. The elution order was found to be (−/+) for PCBs 84, 132, 136, and 176 and (+/−) for PCBs 135 and 174. The retention characteristics of all 19 tri- and tetra-ortho atropisomeric PCBs were also investigated. Nine of the atropisomers could be separated using this chiral selector. PCBs 95, 132, and 149 were completely resovled and PCBs 84, 91, 135, 136, 174, and 176 were partially separated (R = 0.7–0.9). All of the separated congeners are 2,3,6-substituted in at least one ring, and conversely – none of the congeners that lacks 2,3,6-substitution could be separated. Thus, chiral recognition and enantiomer separation seems to be strongly governed by 2,3,6-substitution.     

Determination of five anthraquinones in medicinal plants by capillary zone electrophoresis with beta-cyclodextrin addition

A simple and rapid method for the simultaneous determination of five anthraquinone derivatives including aloe-emodin, emodin, chrysophanol, physcoin and rhein in Rheum species and Polygonum cuspidatum was established by capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) using beta-cyclodextrin (CD) as modifier and urea to enhance its solubility. The apparent binding constants of these derivatives with beta-CD were evaluated. After an optimization study, the best conditions were selected using 35 mM phosphate buffer (pH 11.0) containing 20 mM beta-CD and 2 M urea, applied voltage 20 kV and detection at 254 nm. Under such conditions, all of the five anthraquinones were baseline-separated within a short analysis time of 12 min with symmetrical peaks and high theoretical plate numbers (189,000-314,000). The RSD values of the migration times and peak areas were 0.6-1.1, 1.3-1.9% (intra-day) and 0.6-1.5, 1.3-2.8% (inter-day, for a 5-day period), respectively. The limits of detection for the analytes (S/N = 3) were 0.33-0.62 microg/ml. The recoveries were ranged from 93.37 to 107.69%. The proposed method was successfully applied to the determination of anthraquinones in ethanol extracts of two kinds of Rheum plants (R. palmatum and R. hotaoense) and P. cuspidatum.     

Comparison of sulfobutylether- and sulfated-beta-cyclodextrins as additives for the chiral separation of basic spirobenzopyrans by capillary electrophoresis.

Three charged substituted beta-cyclodextrins (beta-CDs), sulfobutylether-beta-(SBE-beta-CD), degree of substitution (DS) 4 and 7), and sulfated-beta-(S-beta-CD) cyclodextrins, were compared as chiral additives in capillary electrophoresis for the enantiomeric separation of basic spirobenzopyran derivatives (pKa 9.9) which differ from each other by an N-alkyl group. The number of sulfobutylether groups attached to the cyclodextrin moiety significantly influences the enantioseparation of the basic drugs. SBE-beta-CD (DS 7) which is more strongly bound to cationic analyte than SBE-beta-CD (DS 4.6), requires smaller concentrations to achieve the same resolution. Besides, better enantioresolutions were obtained with S-beta-CD rather than with SBE-beta-CDs though higher concentrations are required, which led to high current values. However, both pairs of enantiomers cannot be resolved using S-beta-CD while SBE-beta-CDs make it possible to resolve simultaneous enantioseparation of such solutes slightly differing in hydrophobicity. This supports the hypothesis that hydrophobic interactions (outside of the CD cavity) between the butyl group attached to SBE-beta-CD and the N-alkyl group of spirobenzopyran play a role in the enantioseparation. On the other hand, the sulfate group of S-beta-CD was directly attached to the CD moiety which means that the S-beta-CD-drug complexation mechanism arises through the combination of electrostatic and hydrophobic (inside the CD cavity) interactions. Finally, enantiomers of spirobenzopyran drugs were satisfactorily resolved by CE using a 20 mg/mL S-beta-CD concentration (resolution 4.0), 7 mg/mL SBE-beta-CD DS 4 (resolution 1.3), or 5 mg/mL SBE-beta-CD DS 7 (resolution 3.3) added to the phosphate buffer (pH 2.6, 50 mM ionic strength).