HPLC chiral stationary phases produced with isolated human serum albumin fragments.

The enantioselectivity of HPLC chiral stationary phases produced with human serum albumin (HSA) fragments was investigated. An HSA fragment (HSA-FG75) was isolated by size-exclusion chromatography following peptic digestion of HSA. The isolated HSA-FG75 was mainly an N-terminal half peptide with an average molecular weight of about 35,000 daltons. The HSA and HSA-FG75 proteins were bound to aminopropylsilica gels activated by N,N'-disuccinimidyl carbonate. Though the HSA-FG75 column showed lower enantioselectivities for all of the racemates tested than the intact HSA column, the enantioseparations of the racemates tested were attained with a shorter analysis time on the HSA-FG75 column. These results are ascribable to removal of the non-specific binding sites of HSA, changes in the globular structure of the HSA fragment and/or changes in the local environment around the binding sites. Further, the HSA-FG75 column was as stable as the intact HSA column for repetitive injection of samples.