The analysis of basic pharmaceutical compounds by capillary electrochromatography using continuous bed stationary phase

Summary Capillary electrochromatography (CEC) is classed as a hybrid technique between CE and HPLC and it combines the advantages of both these techniques. However, in some cases the disadvantages are also brought to light and some of these are difficult to resolve. For example the analysis of basic compounds using CEC. The problems of tailing peaks during HPLC analysis of basic compounds was resolved by end capping the residual silanol groups, but in CEC these are the groups that generate the electroosmotic flow. The analysis of basic compounds is crucial within the pharmaceutical industry where a high percentage of the drug actives are basic. Specially designed Continuous Beds stationary phases (CB) can mean that each application can have a specific stationary phase. In order to overcome the problem associated with the analysis of basic compounds using electrochromatography, we have designed a CB stationary phase with a positive charge, which could be operated using negative voltage. The resulting chromatography showed almost gaussian peaks for bases like nortriptyline which tail significantly using stationary phase typically used in CEC.