Chiral resolution of flurbiprofen and ketoprofen enantiomers by HPLC on a glycopeptide-type column chiral stationary phase

Vancomycin is an amphoteric, glycopeptide, macrocyclic antibiotic. When attached to 5 microspherical silica gel, vancomycin proved to be an effective chromatographic chiral stationary phase that could be used in the reversed-phase mode. In this study, a bonded vancomycin chiral stationary phase (Chirobiotic Vtrade mark) was investigated for the chiral liquid chromatography analysis of ketoprofen and flurbiprofen. The selectivity factor (alpha) and the chiral resolution factor (RS) of Chirobiotic Vtrade mark were evaluated first as a function of the buffer pH and molarity, and second as a function of organic modifier type and composition of the mobile phase. Four organic modifiers (tetrahydrofuran, 2-propanol, 1,4-dioxane and methanol) have been tested for their selectivity. Optimized conditions using 20% of tetrahydrofuran in ammonium nitrate (100 mM, pH 5) were selected for the enantioseparation of flurbiprofen and ketoprofen from their racemic forms. At pH 5, these acidic compounds are almost negatively charged, while the chiral selector possesses a positive charge allowing it to interact electrostatistically with the analytes. Using these chromatographic conditions, the column stability was excellent over several months of experiments.