Comparative study of the enantiomeric resolution of chiral antifungal drugs econazole, miconazole and sulconazole by HPLC on various cellulose chiral columns in normal phase mode.

The chiral resolution of (+/-)-econazole, (+/-)-miconazole and (+/-)-sulconazole on the columns containing different cellulose derivatives namely Chiralcel OD, OJ, OB, OK, OC and OF in normal phase mode has been described. The mobile phase used was hexane-2-propanol-diethylamine (425:74:1, v/v/v). The flow rates of the mobile phase used were 0.50, 1.00 and 1.50 ml/min. The values of the separation factor (alpha) of the resolved enantiomers of econazole, miconazole and sulconazole on chiral phases were ranged from 1.07 to 2.50 while the values of resolution factor (R(s)) varied from 0.17 to 3.90. The chiral recognition mechanisms between the analytes and the chiral selectors are discussed.