Liquid chromatographic enantioseparation of (RS)‐etodolac using (S)‐levofloxacin and determination of absolute configuration of the diastereomeric derivatives

(RS)‐Etodolac was isolated from commercial tablets and was purified and characterized to be used as racemic standard. A pair of diastereomeric derivatives was synthesized using (S)‐levofloxacin as a chiral derivatizing reagent. The derivatization reaction was carried out under conditions of stirring at room temperature (30°C for 1.5 h) as well as under microwave irradiation; the derivatives obtained by the two methods were compared. Reaction conditions for derivatization were optimized with respect to mole ratio of chiral derivatizing reagent and (RS)‐etodolac. No racemization was observed throughout the study. Separation of diastereomeric derivatives was successful using C₁₈ column and a binary mixture of methanol and triethyl ammonium phosphate buffer of pH 4.5 (80:20, v/v) as mobile phase at a flow rate of 1 mL min^?1 and UV detection at 223 nm. An efficient approach for recognizing chirality and determining the absolute configuration of the diastereomeric derivatives of (RS)‐etodolac is described, which in turn is a measure of the enantiomeric purity of (RS)‐etodolac since the diastereomeric derivatives were separated and isolated using preparative thin‐layer chromatography.