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.