Enantiomeric separation of a group of chiral dihydropyridines by electrokinetic chromatography

Electrokinetic chromatography (EKC) was employed to achieve the enantiomeric separation of a group of chiral 1,4-dihydropyridines (DHPs) with pharmacological activity. Micelles of bile salts alone or mixed with neutral cyclodextrins, micelles of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) mixed with neutral cyclodextrins, and anionic cyclodextrin derivatives, i.e., carboxymethyl-gamma-cyclodextrin (CM-gamma-CD), carboxymethyl-beta-cyclodextrin (CM-beta-CD), and succinylated beta-cyclodextrin (Succ-beta-CD), were employed as pseudostationary phases. The enantiomeric separation ability of these chiral selectors with respect to DHPs was studied in different experimental conditions. CM-beta-CD was shown to be the best chiral selector to perform the enantiomeric separation of DHPs by EKC. Next, the influence of the CM-beta-CD concentration, the pH and nature of the buffer, the temperature, and the applied voltage on the enantiomeric resolution of DHPs was studied. The use of a 50 mM ammonium acetate buffer, pH 6.7, 25 mM in CM-beta-CD together with an applied voltage of 15 or 20 kV, and a temperature of 15 degrees C enabled the individual enantiomeric separation of twelve DHPs, each one into its two enantiomers, and their separation in multicomponent mixtures of up to six DHPs into all their enantiomers.     

Enantioselective determination by capillary electrophoresis with cyclodextrins as chiral selectors

This review surveys the separation of enantiomers by capillary electrophoresis using cyclodextrins as chiral selector. Cyclodextrins or their derivatives have been widely employed for the direct chiral resolution of a wide number of enantiomers, mainly of pharmaceutical interest, selected examples are reported in the tables. For method optimisation, several parameters influencing the enantioresolution, e.g., cyclodextrin type and concentration, buffer pH and composition, presence of organic solvents or complexing additives in the buffer were considered and discussed. Finally, selected applications to real samples such as pharmaceutical formulations, biological and medical samples are also discussed.     

Evaluation of the enantioseparation capability of the novel chiral selector clindamycin phosphate towards basic drugs by micellar electrokinetic chromatography

To date, a series of chiral selectors have been utilized successfully in capillary electrophoresis (CE). Among these various chiral selectors, macrocyclic antibiotics have been demonstrated to represent powerful enantioselectivity towards many chiral compounds. Differing from macrocyclic antibiotics, the use of lincosamide antibiotics as chiral selectors has not been reported previously. In our recent work, clindamycin phosphate belonging to the group of lincosamides has been first used as a chiral selector in capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE). In this paper, a micellar electrokinetic chromatography (MEKC) method has been developed for the evaluation of enantioseparation capability of this novel chiral selector towards several racemic basic drugs. As observed during the course of this work, clindamycin phosphate allowed excellent separation of the enantiomers of nefopam, citalopram, tryptophan, chlorphenamine, propranolol and metoprolol, as well as partial enantioresolution of tryptophan methyl ester and cetirizine. In this MEKC chiral separation system, different types of anionic surfactants, organic additives and background electrolytes were tested, and satisfactory enantioseparations of basic drugs above-mentioned were achieved using sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) as the surfactant, isopropanol as the organic additive, and phosphate as the background electrolyte. Furthermore, both migration times and enantioseparation of the analytes were influenced by several experimental parameters such as pH of the BGE, clindamycin phosphate and SDS concentrations, phosphate and isopropanol concentrations, and applied voltage. Consequently, the effects of these factors on enantioseparations of the studied basic drugs were systematically investigated in order to evaluate the stereoselectivity of clindamycin phosphate in MEKC.     

Enantiomeric separation of ketoconazole and terconazole antifungals by electrokinetic chromatography: Rapid quantitative analysis of ketoconazole in pharmaceutical formulations

EKC using a neutral CD as chiral selector was applied in this work to the development of a method enabling the enantiomeric separation of ketoconazole and terconazole antifungals. The influence of different experimental conditions such as temperature, CD concentration, pH, and nature and concentration of the buffer on the enantiomeric resolution of the compounds studied was investigated. The use of 10 mM heptakis-(2,3,6-tri-O-methyl)-beta-CD in a 100 mM phosphate buffer (pH 3.5) with a temperature of 15 degrees C allowed the separation of the enantiomers of ketoconazole and terconazole with high resolution (R(s) > 2.0). The rapid separation of ketoconazole enantiomers with an analysis time less than 3 min was carried out after fitting some experimental parameters. The developed method was applied to the determination of ketoconazole in different pharmaceutical formulations.     

Investigation of the stereoselective in vitro biotransformation of thalidomide using a dual cyclodextrin system in capillary electrophoresis

A previously developed capillary electrophoresis method for the simultaneous separation and enantioseparation of thalidomide (TD) and its hydroxylated metabolites was extended to one additional biotransformation product. The dual chiral selector system using native beta-cyclodextrin (beta-CD) and the negatively charged sulfobutyl ether-beta-CD (SBE-beta-CD) was slightly modified up to a concentration of 12 mg/mL running buffer of each CD. The carrier mode in which these buffer additives transport the neutral compounds to the detector as well as the use of a polyacrylamide-coated capillary were necessary to achieve reproducible enantioseparations of all eight analytes. The optimized method was applied to the analysis of the in vitro biotransformation of TD by rat liver microsomes. The S-enantiomer undergoes metabolism preferentially by hydroxylation in the phthalimide ring, whereas R-(+)-TD is mainly transformed to diastereomeric 5'-hydroxythalidomide (5'-OH-TD) pairs. The chiral capillary electrophoresis of incubation samples of TD enantiomers in combination with X-ray diffraction data allowed us to determine the absolute configuration of all metabolites and furthermore to follow the enantio- and stereoselective effects of metabolism in detail.     

Enantiomeric separation of gemfibrozil chiral analogues by capillary electrophoresis with heptakis(2,3,6-tri-O-methyl)-beta-cyclodextrin as chiral selector

The enantiomeric separation of gemfibrozil chiral analogues was performed by capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE). Resolution of the enantiomers was achieved using heptakis(2,3,6-tri-O-methyl)-beta-cyclodextrin (TM-beta-CD) as chiral selector dissolved into a buffer solution. In order to optimize the separation conditions, type, pH and concentration of running buffer and chiral selector concentration were varied. For each pH value, the optimum chiral selector concentration that produced the resolution of the isomers was found. The migration order of labile diastereoisomers formed was valued at the optimum experimental conditions by adding a pure optical isomer to the racemic mixture. Data from 1H NMR studies confirmed host-guest interaction between TM-beta-CD and 5-(2,5-dimethylphenoxy)-2-ethylpentanoic acid sodium salt. The hypothesized stoichiometry host:guest was 1:1. An apparent equilibrium constant (Ka) was estimated monitoring the chemical shift variation as a function of TM-beta-CD concentration. Salt effect on complexation equilibrium constant was also investigated.     

Separation and quantitation of the four stereoisomers of itraconazole in pharmaceutical formulations by electrokinetic chromatography

The four stereoisomers of itraconazole were resolved for the first time by EKC using a CD as chiral selector. A study on the enantiomeric separation ability of different neutral CDs was carried out. Heptakis-2,3,6-tri-O-methyl-beta-CD was shown to provide the highest values for the enantiomeric resolution. The influence of some experimental conditions, such as pH, chiral selector concentration, and temperature, on the enantiomeric separation was also studied. The use of a 100 mM phosphate buffer (pH 2.5), 30 mM in heptakis-2,3,6-tri-O-methyl-beta-CD together with an applied voltage of 30 kV and a temperature of 20 degrees C enabled the separation of the enantiomers of itraconazole with high resolutions (Rs > 3.0). Finally, the method was validated and successfully applied to the quantitation of itraconazole in three pharmaceutical formulations.     

Enantioseparation of phenothiazines in cyclodextrin-modified capillary zone electrophoresis using sulfated cyclodextrins as chiral selectors

In this study, enantioseparations of five phenothiazines, including promethazine, ethopropazine, trimeprazine, methotrimeprazine, and thioridazine, in CD-modified CZE using dual CD systems consisting of randomly sulfate-substituted CD (MI-S-beta-CD) and a neutral CD as chiral selectors in a citrate buffer (100 mM) at pH 3.0 were investigated. The results indicate that MI-S-beta-CD is an excellent chiral selector for enantioseparation of ethopropazine. The enantiomers of promethazine can also be baseline-resolved with MI-S-beta-CD at concentrations in the range of 0.5-1.0% w/v. On the other hand, thioridazine and trimeprazine interact strongly with neutral CDs. As a result, the enantioselectivity of these two phenothiazines is remarkably and synergistically enhanced with increasing the concentration of neutral CDs in the presence of MI-S-beta-CD and simultaneous enantioseparations of these phenothiazines, except for methotrimeprazine, could favorably be achieved with the use of dual CD systems. Moreover, by varying the concentration of beta-CD or gamma-CD at a fixed concentration of MI-S-beta-CD (0.75% w/v) reversal of the enantiomer migration order of promethazine occurred. This may be attributable to the opposite effects of charged and neutral CDs on the mobility of the enantiomers of promethazine.     

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.     

Capillary electrophoretic separation of binaphthyl enantiomers with two polymeric chiral surfactants: 1H-nuclear magnetic resonance and fluorescence spectroscopy study

The use of the water-soluble polymeric chiral surfactants (PCS), sodium N-undecanoyl-L-valinate (poly-L-SUV) and sodium undecanoyl-L-isoleucinate (poly-L-SUI) as buffer additives in electrokinetic chromatography (EKC) afforded the separation of racemic mixtures of 2,2'-dihydroxy-1,1'-binaphthyl (BOH) and 1,1'-binaphthyl-2,2'-diyl hydrogen phosphate (BNP). The apparent binding constants of the PCS to the enantiomers of BNP and BOH were obtained through 1H-nuclear magnetic resonance (1H-NMR) titrations and fluorescence spectroscopy, respectively. The 1H-NMR titration studies show that the BNP enantiomers are localized in the hydrophobic micellar pockets of PCS and form complexes of a 1:1 stoichiometry. The binding constants of PCS of BOH were determined from a Benesi-Hildebrand treatment of the fluorescence data. The EKC data corroborate those of the binding constants, supporting the formation of inclusion complexes. A model rationalizing the chiral discrimination of the enantiomers of BNP is proposed based on the intermolecular interactions observed in 1H-NMR data.     

Enantioseparation of chiral benzimidazole derivatives by electrokinetic chromatography using sulfated cyclodextrins

Baseline separation of 18 new substituted benzimidazole derivatives, potent AMP‐activated protein kinase (AMPK) activators, with one chiral center, was achieved by CD‐EKC using sulfated and highly sulfated CDs (SCDs and HS‐CDs) as chiral selectors. The influence of the type and concentration of the chiral selectors on the enantioseparations was investigated. The SCDs exhibit a very high enantioselectivity power since they allow excellent enantiomeric resolutions compared to those obtained with the neutral CDs. The enantiomers were resolved with analysis times around 6 min using 25 mM phosphate buffer at pH 2.5 containing either β‐S‐CD, HS‐β‐CD, HS‐γ‐CD (3 or 4% w/v) at 25°C, with a voltage of 20 kV. The apparent association constants of the inclusion complexes were calculated. The study of the solute structure‐enantioseparation relationships seems to show the high contribution of the interactions between the solutes phenyl ring and the CDs to the enantiorecognition process. The optimized method was briefly validated (LOD less than 1%) and the purity of enantiomers of compound 3 was determined. The enantiomer migration shows reversal order depending on the kind of CD.     

Effect of molecular structure of tartrates on chiral recognition of tartrate–boric acid complex chiral selectors in chiral microemulsion electrokinetic chromatography

Eight l-tartrates and a d-tartrate with different alcohol moieties were used as chiral oils to prepare chiral microemulsions, which were utilized in conjunction with borate buffer to separate the enantiomers of β-blockers or structurally related compounds by the chiral microemulsion electrokinetic chromatography (MEEKC) method. Among them, six were found to have a relatively good chiral separation performance and their chiral recognition effect in terms of both enantioselectivity and resolution increases linearly with the number of carbon atoms in the alkyl group of alcohol moiety. The tartrates containing alkyl groups of different structures but the same number of carbon atoms, i.e. one of straight chain and one of branched chain, provide similar enantioseparations. The trend was elucidated according to the changes in the difference of the steric matching between the molecules of two enantiomers and chiral selector. Furthermore, it was demonstrated for the first time that a water insoluble solid compound, di-i-butyl l-tartrate (mp. 73.5 °C), can be used as an oil to prepare a stable microemulsion to be used in the chiral MEEKC successfully. And a critical effect of the microemulsion for chiral separation, which has never been reported before, was found in this experiment, namely providing a hydrophobic environment to strengthen the interactions between the chiral selector and enantiomers.     

Use of vancomycin as chiral selector in capillary electrophoresis. Optimization and quantitation of loxiglumide enantiomers in pharmaceuticals

Vancomycin has been used as chiral selector for the enantiomers separation of D, L-loxiglumide, a new drug proposed for the treatment of gastrointestinal pathology. The chiral selector, dissolved at very low concentration in the running buffer, filled only part of the capillary (polyacrylamide coated) and allowed chiral resolution in less than 12 min using a 50 mM phosphate buffer at pH 6. The partial separation technique allowed to obtain a detection limit of 0.5 μg/ml for each enantiomer avoiding the drop in sensitivity due to the strong UV absorption of vancomycin when present in the detector path. The effects of vancomycin concentration and buffer pH on enantiomers resolution have been studied in order to find the optimum experimental conditions for the chiral purity control of drug. The optimized method, using the internal standard, showed good reproducibility for both migration times and normalized peak area ratio and for linearity. Under the studied operating conditions it was possible to detect 0.2 % (w/w) of L-loxiglumide as a chiral impurity. Analysis of pharmaceutical preparations of D-loxiglumide did not reveal the presence of the impurity (L-isomer).     

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.     

Enatiomeric analysis of simendan by CE with beta-CD as chiral selector compared with CMPA-HPLC

The chiral separation of simendan enantiomers using capillary electrophoresis was studied with beta-cyclodextrin (beta-CD) as chiral selector. The influences of the concentration and pH of borate buffer solution, beta-CD concentration and methanol content in the background electrolyte were investigated. These factors were compared with those in an HPLC with beta-CD as chiral mobile phase additive (CMPA-HPLC). The quantification properties of the developed CE method were examined. A baseline separation of simendan enantiomers was achieved in the background electrolyte of 20 mmol/L borate buffer (pH 11.0) containing 12 mmol/L beta-CD-methanol (50:50 in volume ratio). The CE method is comparable with CMPA-HPLC in chiral resolution, although the optimal pH in CE (11.0) is much higher than that (6.0) in CMPA-HPLC. This chiral CE method is applicable to the quantitative ananlysis and enantiomeric excess value determination of L-simendan.     

Evaluation of clarithromycin lactobionate as a novel chiral selector for enantiomeric separation of basic drugs in capillary electrophoresis

Nowadays, macrocyclic antibiotics are presenting an increasing number of enantioseparation applications. The macrocyclic antibiotics used as chiral selectors in capillary electrophoresis (CE) include the ansamycins and the glycopeptides. The macrolides, another important class of macrocyclic antibiotics, have been reported as a new type of chiral selectors recently. In this study, clarithromycin lactobionate (CL), belonging to the group of macrolide antibiotics, was first investigated for its potential as a novel chiral selector in CE for enantiomeric separation of several basic drugs. As observed, CL allowed excellent separation of the enantiomers of metoprolol, atenolol, propranolol, bisoprolol, esmolol, ritodrine, and amlodipine, as well as partial enantioresolution of labetalol and nefopam. In addition, CL possesses advantages such as high solubility and low viscosity in the solvent and very weak UV absorption. In the course of this study, it was found that both migration times and enantioseparation of the basic drugs were influenced by several experimental parameters, e.g. selector concentration, the composition and pH of the BGE, the type and concentration of organic modifier, and applied voltage. Thus, the effects of these factors were systematically investigated, and satisfactory enantioseparations of the studied drugs were achieved at the buffer pH range of 7.3–7.5 using 12.5 mM borax buffer with 50% v/v methanol, 60 mM CL, and 20 kV applied voltage. Moreover, comparison of the influences of the studied parameters was further investigated by means of Statistical Product and Service Solutions (SPSS) in this article.     

Chiral microemulsion electrokinetic chromatography with two chiral components: Improved separations via synergies between a chiral surfactant and a chiral cosurfactant

In this study, the combination of two chiral components in a microemulsion formulation for the separation of enantiomers via microemulsion EKC (MEEKC) was successfully accomplished. Previous publications of chiral microemulsions have utilized only one chiral entity; the surfactant, cosurfactant, or oil was chiral. This is the first study, to date, of the effects of using two chiral species in a single pseudostationary phase (PSP). The chiral surfactant dodecoxycarbonylvaline (DDCV) was used in conjunction with the chiral cosurfactant S-2-hexanol. Ethyl acetate was incorporated as the oil core of the microemulsion and the buffer was 50 mM phosphate at a pH of 7. Additionally, a microemulsion prepared with racemic 2-hexanol was used for comparison to a previous DDCV microemulsion and as a baseline for the newly formulated dual chiral microemulsion. The efficiencies, resolutions, and enantioselectivities for the S-2-hexanol, racemic 2-hexanol, and original 1-butanol DDCV microemulsions are compared. The hexanol-based PSPs provide improved efficiencies and resolutions. To evaluate the combination of each DDCV enantiomer (R and S) with S-2-hexanol, changes in Gibb's free energy were calculated. A synergistic effect was found when two chiral components were combined to form a microemulsion.     

Enhancement of enantioselectivity in chiral capillary electrophoresis using hydroxypropyl‐beta‐cyclodextrin as chiral selector under molecular crowding conditions induced by dextran or dextrin

Molecular crowding is a new approach to enhance the retention properties and selectivity of molecularly imprinted polymers. In this work, this concept was first applied to chiral CE to enhance its enantioselectivity. A model system, enantioseparation of salbutamol using hydroxypropyl‐beta‐cyclodextrin as chiral selector in the presence of dextran or dextrin as crowding‐inducing agents, was chosen to demonstrate its potency. Some parameters, especially the concentration of crowding‐inducing agents and cyclodextrins were investigated intensively. Moreover, based on fluorescence spectroscopy and affinity CE, it was found that the presence of crowding‐inducing agents could promote the association of enantiomers with cyclodextrins and intensify the interacting differences of two enantiomers with cyclodextrins. As a result, the essential concentration of cyclodextrins to make the enantiomers reach baseline separation was significantly decreased with the aid of molecular crowding. This study shows that molecular crowding is an effective strategy to enhance the enantioselectivity of cyclodextrin in chiral CE.     

Enantioseparation of amino acid derivatives by capillary zone electrophoresis using vancomycin as chiral selector

The separation of racemic derivatized amino acids (N-acetyl) into their enantiomers was achieved using capillary zone electrophoresis employing vancomycin as a chiral selector. Due to the strong absorption properties of the chiral selector at the low wavelengths used, the partial-filling countercurrent method was adopted in order to improve method sensitivity. In the separation system studied, the chiral selector filled only a part of the capillary and, due to the appropriate selection of the pH, was moving in the opposite direction of the analytes keeping the detector free from absorbing compounds. The effect of several experimental parameters on the enantioresolution of analytes was studied, e.g., vancomycin concentration (0-5 mM), pH of the background electrolyte (pH 4-7), capillary temperature (15-35 degrees C), and the presence of an organic modifier in the run buffer (methanol or ethanol or n-propanol). N-Acetyl glutamic acid, serine, cystine, tyrosine, and proline were all baseline-resolved into their enantiomers and the enantioresolution factor (R(s)) was increased by raising the vancomycin concentration. pH 4 allowed the baseline resolution of the five studied analytes in the presence of 2.5 mM of chiral selector and an increase in pH caused a decrease of R(s).     

On-chip chiral separation based on bovine serum albumin-conjugated carbon nanotubes as stationary phase in a microchannel

A novel method of chiral separation based on protein-stationary phase immobilized in a poly(methyl methacrylate) microfluidic chip was developed. BSA conjugated with the shortened carboxylic single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) was employed as the chiral selector. Successful separation of tryptophan enantiomers was achieved in less than 70 s with a resolution factor of 1.35 utilizing a separation length of 32 mm. This is the first example of chiral separation based on SWNTs-BSA conjugates as stationary phase immobilized in microchip channel. The stability of the stationary phase in the channel was examined by microchip electrophoresis with laser-induced fluorescence detection. Factors that influenced the chiral separation resolution were examined. Under the optimized conditions, the proposed modified chip revealed adequate repeatability concerning run-to-run. These results show that the use of SWNTs-BSA conjugates within microfluidic channels hold great promise for a variety of analytical schemes.