Enantiomer separation by pressure-supported electrochromatography using capillaries packed with Chirasil-Dex polymer-coated silica.

Pressure-supported electrochromatography using capillaries packed with permethyl-cyclodextrin covalently linked via an octamethylene spacer to dimethylpolysiloxane and immobilized on silica (Chirasil-Dex silica) has been employed as an efficient and rapid method for the enantiomer separation of various racemic compounds. By comparing this method with micropacked liquid chromatography (LC), employing the same column in a unified instrumental setup, micropacked capillary electrochromatography (CEC) shows higher column efficiencies and hence better resolution factors. The influence of type and concentration of buffer, amount and nature of organic modifier, and pressure support is investigated.