Enantiomeric separation by capillary electrophoresis using a crown ether as chiral selector.

This paper reviews chiral separations of primary amines by capillary electrophoresis and crown ether as chiral selector. Two possible mechanisms of chiral recognition by host-guest complexation are discussed: (i) The substituents of the crown ether act as barriers for the guest compounds, and (ii) lateral electrostatic interactions between host and guest occur. Experimental conditions affecting the separation are discussed in detail. A literature overview of practical applications is presented as well. More than 80 different primary amines were analyzed, whereupon the majority could be resolved using a screening method. It is shown that a synergistic effect on the resolution of chiral amines is observed when the chiral crown ether and cyclodextrins are simultaneously used in the same buffer system. This approach opens interesting perspectives for further method optimization.     

Comparative studies of various run buffers for chiral capillary electrophoresis using chiral crown ether as a chiral selector

In the capillary electrophoretic separation of primary amine enantiomers using (+)-(18-crown-6)-tetracarboxylic acid (18C6H4) as a chiral selector, the presence of run buffer constituents such as tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane (Tris) or Na+ competing with analytes for 18C6H4, diminishes the effectiveness of 18C6H4. In order to determine appropriate buffer systems for 18C6H4, various run buffer cationic components including Tris, 1,3-bis[tris(hydroxymethyl)methylamino]propane, bis(2-hydroxyethyl)iminotris(hydroxymethyl)methane, triethanolamine, tetramethylammonium, and Na+ were compared. Quantitative studies of the effects of the competitive constituents were carried out by measuring the electrophoretic mobilities of histidine as a function of the 18C6H4 concentration. We also derived a simple equation to estimate the optimal chiral selector concentration for a maximum mobility difference in the presence of a competitive inhibitor.     

Chiral separation of amino acids by capillary electrophoresis with octyl-beta-thioglucopyranoside as chiral selector

In the present work, we propose the use of direct coupling of a headspace sampler to a mass spectrometer for the detection of adulterants in olive oil. Samples of olive oils were mixed with different proportions of sunflower oil and olive-pomace oil, respectively, and patterns of the volatile compounds in the original and mixed samples were generated. Application of the linear discriminant analysis technique to the data from the signals was sufficient to differentiate the adulterated from the non-adulterated oils and to discriminate the type of adulteration. The results obtained revealed 100% success in classification and close to 100% in prediction. The main advantages of the proposed methodology are the speed of analysis (since no prior sample preparation steps are required), low cost, and the simplicity of the measuring process.     

Chiral separation of four fluoroquinolone compounds using capillary electrophoresis with hydroxypropyl-beta-cyclodextrin as chiral selector

A capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) investigation on the enantiomeric separation of lomefloxacin, gatifloxacin, pazufloxacin and ofloxacin was undertaken. Resolution of the enantiomers was achieved using hydroxypropyl-beta-cyclodextrin (HP-beta-CD) as the chiral selector. Parameters influencing separation include cyclodextrin concentration, separational potential, pH and organic additive are discussed. A buffer consisting of 70 mM phosphate and 40 mM HP-beta-CD at pH 3.96 was found to be highly efficient for the separation of lomefloxacin, at pH 3.90 for gatifloxacin, at pH 5.04 for pazufloxacin and at pH 2.16 for ofloxacin. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on the enantiomeric resolution of lomefloxacin and gatifloxacin applying CE.     

Chiral separation of anionic and neutral compounds using a hepta-substituted cationic beta-cyclodextrin as a chiral selector in capillary electrophoresis

Enantiomeric separations of six anionic and two neutral racemates were achieved using a fully substituted heptakis(6-hydroxyethylamino-6-deoxy)-beta-cyclodextrin (beta-CD-EA) as a chiral selector. As beta-CD-EA provides a dynamic coating on the capillary wall, reverse-polarity capillary electrophoresis (CE) configuration is applied for separations of anionic and neutral chiral compounds. Chiral separations of various classes of anionic and neutral enantiomers were found to be highly dependent on pH because the degree of protonation of beta-CD-EA can alter the shape of the CD cavity by charge repulsion, altering complexation, aiding selectivity, and leading to better enantiomeric separation. In general, the chiral resolution of anionic enantiomers was enhanced at higher pH. This suggests that carboxylate or phosphate groups on the analyte may interact with the protonated amine groups of cationic CD. The successful enantioseparation was achieved in a pH range of 6.6-7.8 for all six anionic analytes, in the presence of 10 mM beta-CD-EA.     

Chiral counter-current chromatography of gemifloxacin guided by capillary electrophoresis using (+)-(18-crown-6)-tetracarboxylic acid as a chiral selector

(+)-(18-crown-6)-tetracarboxylic acid (18C6H4) has been known as a highly efficient chiral selector for resolving primary amine enantiomers in capillary electrophoresis (CE). We investigated the chiral separation of gemifloxacin using 18C6H4 in analytical counter-current chromatography (CCC). The separation conditions for CE, including the binding constant, pH, and run buffer constituents, provided a helpful guideline for chiral CCC. A successful separation of gemifloxacin enantiomers could be achieved using a two-phase solvent system composed of 1-butanol-ethyl-acetate-bis(2-hydroxyethyl)aminotris(hydroxymethyl)methane acetate buffer with a small amount of 18C6H4. The hydrophobicity of the solvent system and the 18C6H4 concentration were varied to optimize the chiral separation.     

Chiral separation of bupivacaine enantiomers by capillary electrophoresis partial-filling technique with human serum albumin as chiral selector

Capillary electrophoresis (CE) is a powerful technique for enantiomer separations due to its intrinsic high separation efficiencies, speed of analysis, low reagent consumption and small sample requirements. However, some chiral selectors present strong background UV absorption providing high detection limits. The present paper deals with the application of the partial-filling technique to the separation of bupivacaine enantiomers by capillary electrophoresis using human serum albumin (HSA) as chiral selector. In this procedure the cationic surfactant cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) was used as a dinamic capillary coating in order to reduce the electro-osmotic flow and detect both bupivacaine enantiomers out of the chiral selector plug. Several experimental conditions such as CTAB concentration, pH, HSA concentration and plug length, background electrolyte concentration, temperature and voltage were studied. Under the selected conditions it is possible to detect the separated enantiomers out of the HSA plug in less than 4 min using 50 mM Tris pH 8 as background electrolyte with 50 microM CTAB, at 30 degrees C and using a separation voltage of 25 kV. The proposed methodology was then validated for analytical purposes and applied to the analysis of pharmaceutical preparations commercially available. The results obtained with the proposed methodology were in good agreement with those declared by the manufacturers. The simplicity, sample throughput, accuracy, reproducibility and low cost of the proposed method make it suitable for the control of the enantiomeric composition of bupivacaine in pharmaceuticals.     

Application of tetraoxadiaza-crown ether derivatives as chiral selector modifiers in capillary electrophoresis

Two new diaza-crown ether derivatives (R-1, RS-1) have been synthesized from 1,4,10,13-tetraoxa-7,16-diazacyclooctadecane and tested as potential chiral selectors in capillary electrophoresis (CE) for the chiral separation of five amino acid derivatives. The individual use of the selectors did not lead to chiral differentiation. However, they enhanced the enantioselective effect of different cyclodextrins in dual selector systems. In this paper, we report the effect of different substituted diaza-crown ether derivatives on the separation results obtained in dual systems with cyclodextrins.     

Enantioselective separation of epoxides by capillary electrophoresis employing sulfated beta-cyclodextrin as chiral selector

A capillary electrophoresis method was developed for the enantioseparation of epoxide compounds. Sulfated beta-cyclodextrin was employed as a chiral selector. Phosphate-triethanolamine buffer showed a chiral separation effect when employing charged sulfated beta-cyclodextrin. The effect of pH, triethanolamine concentration and sulfated beta-cyclodextrin concentration on the resolution was studied. Methanol was tested as an organic modifier. Several other epoxides were successfully separated by the proposed method.     

Enantioselective separation in capillary electrophoresis using a novel mono-6-propylammonium-β-cyclodextrin as chiral selector

The chiral resolving ability of a novel single-isomer cationic β-cyclodextrin (CD), mono-6^A-propylammonium-6^A-deoxy-β-cyclodextrin chloride (PrAMCD), as a chiral selector in capillary electrophoresis (CE) is reported in this work for the enantioseparation of hydroxy, carboxylic acids and amphoteric analytes. The effect of chiral selector concentration on the resolution was studied. Good resolutions were achieved for hydroxy acids. Optimum resolutions were obtained even at 3.5 mM CD concentration for carboxylic acids. The electrophoretic method showed good linearity and reproducibility in terms of migration times and peak areas, which should make it suitable for routine analysis. In addition, baseline chiral separation of a six-acid mixture was achieved within 20 min. PrAMCD proved to be an effective chiral selector for acidic analytes.     

Azithromycin as a new chiral selector in capillary electrophoresis

In capillary electrophoresis (CE), separation of enantiomers of a chiral compound can be achieved through the chiral interactions and/or complex formation between the chiral selector and the enantiomeric analytes on leaving their diastereomeric forms with different stability constants and hence different mobilities. A great number of chiral selectors have been employed in CE and among them macrocyclic antibiotics exhibited excellent enantioselective properties towards a wide number of racemic compounds. The use of azithromycin (AZM) as a chiral selector has not been reported previously. This work reports the use of AZM as a chiral selector for the enantiomeric separations of five chiral drugs and one amino acid (tryptophan) in CE. The enantioseparation is carried out using polar organic mixtures of acetonitrile (ACN), methanol (MeOH), acetic acid and triethylamine as run buffer. The influences of the chiral selector concentration, ACN/MeOH ratio, applied voltage and capillary temperature on enantioseparation are investigated. The results show that AZM is a viable chiral selector in CE for the enantioseparation of the type of chiral drugs investigated.     

Investigation of enantiomeric separation of basic drugs by capillary electrophoresis using clindamycin phosphate as a novel chiral selector

A wide number of chiral selectors have been employed in CE and among them macrocyclic antibiotics exhibited excellent enantioselective properties toward plenteous racemic drugs. Different from macrocyclic antibiotics, the use of lincomycin antibiotics as chiral selectors has not been reported previously. In this study clindamycin phosphate belonging to the group of lincomycin antibiotics is first used as a novel chiral selector for the enantiomeric separations of several racemic basic drugs, which possess high separability, consisting of nefopam, citalopram, tryptophan, chlorphenamine and propranolol. Other basic drugs giving partial enantioseparation include tryptophan methyl ester, metoprolol and atenolol. Clindamycin phosphate possesses advantages such as high solubility and low viscosity in the water and very weak UV absorption. In the course of this work we observed that both migration time and enantioseparation were influenced by several parameters such as pH of the BGE, clindamycin concentration, capillary temperature, applied voltage and organic modifier. The optimum pH that was in the neutral or weak basic region but varied among drugs, a low capillary temperature and a clindamycin concentration of 60 or 80 mM are recommended as the optimum conditions for chiral separation of these drugs. Moreover, comparison of the influences of the studied parameters was further investigated by means of Statistical Product and Service Solutions in this paper.     

Enantiorecognition of profens by capillary electrophoresis using a novel chiral selector eremomycin

The evaluation of a macrocyclic glycopeptide antibiotic, eremomycin, as a chiral selector in capillary electrophoresis (CE) has been performed. The stability of eremomycin in solution and capillary electrolyte, as well as its optical and electrophoretic properties have been discussed. The effect of experimental parameters influencing the enantioseparation of several profens has been studied. Excellent enantioseparation of profens has been achieved and migration order has been validated. Comparison of enantioseparations of profens in CE by using eremomycin-mediated electrolytes and in HPLC with eremomycin immobilized on silica has revealed similar trends for both methods.     

Evaluation of balhimycin as a chiral selector for enantioresolution by capillary electrophoresis

The glycopeptide antibiotic balhimycin and its haloanalogue bromobalhimycin were evaluated as chiral selectors for enantioresolution by capillary electrophoresis. In order (i) to eliminate the adsorption of the glycopeptide antibiotics on the capillary wall, (ii) to shorten the separation time and (iii) to improve the detection sensitivity, a combined approach of the dynamic surface coating technique, the co-electroosmotic flow electrophoresis technique and the partial filling technique was employed for the enantioresolution of 16 acidic racemates. The effect of experimental parameters (plug length of the partial filling solution containing the chiral selector, selector concentration and buffer pH) on enantiorecognition was investigated. Furthermore, the enantiorecognition ability imparted by balhimycin, bromobalhimycin and vancomycin were compared. For most tested compounds, the highest enantiorecognition was obtained with balhimycin as chiral selector. Only in the case of the enantioresolution of tiaprofenic acid, vancomycin showed a superior enantiorecognition.     

Chiral separation of underivatized amino acids by ligand-exchange capillary electrophoresis using a copper(II)-L-lysine complex as selector

A method based on capillary zone electrophoresis is presented for the determination of the purity of commercial dimeric cyanine dyes (TOTO, YOYO, BOBO, all -1 and -3 species, LOLO-1, POPO-1) that are common as fluorescent probes for nucleic acid staining. These dyes are tetracharged cations, and have a strong tendency to interact with negatively charged centres, where they are rapidly adsorbed, especially from aqueous solutions. Thus anionic sites at the capillary wall must be avoided, and aqueous buffers are not suitable. The method introduced here avoids both complications, using non-aqueous N,N-dimethylacetamide as solvent, and suppressing the dissociation of silanol groups at the capillary surface due to selection of acidic separation conditions (20 mmol/l perchloric acid as background electrolyte). The present method enables the determination of the purity of all 10 dyes in less than 15 min. The selectivity of the method allows separation of at least five main and differentiating a number of unresolved minor contaminants as demonstrated in detail for TOTO-3 as an example. Quantitation (with 100% normalisation of the peak areas) of nine lots of this dye results in a purity between 33 and 87%.     

Chiral separation of hydroxyflavanones in cyclodextrin-modified capillary zone electrophoresis using sulfated cyclodextrins as chiral selectors

Chiral separations of three hydroxyflavanone aglycones, including 2'-, 3'-, and 4'-hydroxyflavanone, in capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) using randomly sulfate-substituted beta-cyclodextrin (S-beta-CD) or dual cyclodextrin (CD) systems consisting of S-beta-CD and a neutral CD at low pH were investigated. The results indicate that S-beta-CD is an excellent chiral selector for enantioseparation of 2'-hydroxyflavanone and is a good chiral selector for 3'-hydroxyflavanone. Depending on the concentration of S-beta-CD ranging from 2.0 to 0.75% (w/v), the enantioresolution values were 10.5-19.5 and 1.8-3.4 for 2'- and 3'-hydroxyflavanone, respectively. The enantiomers of 4'-hydroxyflavanone could be effectively separated with S-beta-CD at a concentration of 2.0% (w/v) within 20 min. The enantioselectivity and enantioresolution follow the order 2'-hydroxyflavanone>3'-hydroxyflavanone>4'-hydroxyflavanone. Alternatively, with the addition of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) monomers at low concentrations in the electrophoretic system, enantioselectivity of these hydroxyflavanone aglycones could be enhanced with dual CD systems. In this case, SDS monomer acted as a complexing agent probably first with S-beta-CD and then subsequently with the analytes for increasing the effective electrophoretic mobility of the analytes towards the anode and as a selectivity controller for affecting the selectivity of hydroxyflavanones. Better enantioseparation between 2'-hydroxyflavanone and 3'-hydroxyflavanone could be achieved with a dual CD system consisting of S-beta-CD and gamma-CD than that with S-beta-CD and beta-CD. In addition, possible chiral recognition mechanisms of hydroxyflavanones are discussed.     

Optimization of the chiral resolution of baclofen by capillary electrophoresis using beta-cyclodextrin as the chiral selector

The chiral resolution of baclofen was achieved by capillary electrophoresis using a fused-silica capillary (60 cm x 75 microm ID). The background electrolyte (BGE) was phosphate buffer (pH 7.0, 50 mM)-acetonitrile (95:5 v/v) containing 10 mM beta-cyclodextrin. The applied voltage was 15 kV. The values of alpha and R(s) were 1.06 and 1.00, respectively. The electrophoretic conditions were optimized varying the pH and the ionic strength of the BGE, concentrations of beta-cyclodextrin and acetonitrile and the applied voltage.     

Chiral separation based on ligand-exchange capillary electrophoresis using a copper(II)-L-ornithine ternary complex as selector

A ligand-exchange capillary electrophoresis was explored, with L-ornithine as the ligand and copper(II) as the central ion. Its applicability was demonstrated with underivatized and dansyl amino acids, a dipeptide, and drugs with amino alcohol structure. The enantioselectivity was found to be strongly dependent on pH and copper(II)-L-Orn complex concentration. Due to the adsorption of the positively charged species onto the capillary inner walls, the chiral separation selectivity is very high while the efficiency is relatively low. Permanent 1,3-propanediamine-coated capillaries show an improved separation efficiency and theoretical plate numbers increasing from 10(4) to 10(5). Similar phenomena were observed when sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) micelles were added to the copper(II) complex solution. The poor separation efficiency of chiral compounds in uncoated capillaries may result from the low rate of the ligand-exchange reactions, and the high enantioselectivity may derive from the complexing process in the adsorbed phase.     

Application of carboxymethyl-beta-cyclodextrin as a chiral selector in capillary electrophoresis for enantiomer separation of selected neurotransmitters

The aim of this work was to optimize conditions for capillary electrophoresis separation of different neurotransmitters (serotonin, phenylalanine, dopamine, adrenaline, ephedrine, propranolol and DOPA) in a single run, including separation of existing enantiomers. As chiral selectors added to the borate background, electrolyte unsubstituted alpha-, beta- and -gamma-cyclodextrins (CDs), methyl-, dimethyl-, and trimethyl-substituted beta-CDs, and hydroxypropyl-substituted alpha-, beta- and gamma-CDs were examined. Also carboxymethyl-beta-CD and succinyl-beta-CD were used for this purpose. In addition to the kind and concentration of chiral selector, some other experimental factors also have been optimized, such as concentration of borate buffer, content of methanol, pH of electrolyte, method of sample introduction into the capillary and washing procedure between consecutive runs. The best results were obtained using 20 mM carboxymethyl-beta-CD in borate buffer of pH 7.5 as running electrolyte and hydrostatic injection. The obtained sensitivity of response (peak height) varied from 0.4 for adrenalines to 2.3 mAU mM(-1) for propranolols. The concentration detection limits (S/N=3) were in the range from 0.04 mM for propranolols to 0.2 mM for adrenalines. The resolution obtained in optimized conditions in a single run was from 0.75 for adrenalins and 1.0 for propranolols up to 2.0 for ephedrines. The developed method was employed for determination of these analytes in brain tissue extracts.