Non-aqueous capillary electrophoresis chiral separations with sulfated beta-cyclodextrin.

This paper reports the application of an anionic cyclodextrin (CD), sulfated beta-cyclodextrin with a degree of substitution of four (beta-CD-(SO4-)4, in chiral separations of pharmaceutical enantiomers by non-aqueous capillary electrophoresis (NACE). Upon complexation with the anionic CD, electrophoretic mobilities of the basic enantiomers decreased, however, both separation selectivity and resolution were enhanced. The advantage of NACE chiral separations over the aqueous CE with the charged CD is that higher electric field strength and higher ionic strength could be applied due to the characteristics of the solvent formamide. The higher ionic strength leads to stacking of peaks and reduces the electrodispersion caused by the mobility mismatch between beta-CD-(SO4-)4-analyte complexes and the co-ions in the running buffer. As a result, better peak shapes and higher separation efficiency were obtained. Comparing with NACE chiral separations with neutral CDs, lower concentration of beta-CD-(SO4-)4 was needed due to the fact that the electrostatic attraction caused stronger binding between beta-CD-(SO4-)4 and the enantiomers. The effects of the experimental parameters, such as concentration of the CD, apparent pH (pH*), degree of substitutions of the CDs, percentage of water in mixed solvent systems, and type of solvents were also studied.