Determination of the Enantiomers of Tamsulosin Hydrochloride and its Synthetic Intermediates by Chiral Liquid Chromatography

A chiral liquid chromatographic method is described for the determination of the enantiomers of tamsulosin hydrochloride and its synthetic intermediates. Enantioseparation was achieved on a Chiralcel OD-R column (250 mm × 4.6 mm, 10 m) using a mobile phase consisting of a mixture of 0.5 mol L^–1 sodium perchlorate and acetonitrile (80:20, v/v, pH 4.0). The flow rate was 0.4 mL min^–1 and detection was at 223 nm. Excellent enantiomer separations were achieved for tamsulosin hydrochloride and its synthetic intermediates. No other methods are available for the separation of these enantiomers. The method developed in this study has been successfully applied for purity control.