Enantioseparation of 2-aryloxypropionic acids on chiral porous monolithic columns by capillary electrochromatography. Evaluation of column performance and enantioselectivity.

The enantioseparation of 2-aryloxypropionic acids by capillary electrochromatography was tested on columns with a monolithic stationary phase prepared from silanized fused-silica capillaries (100 microm I.D.) by in situ copolymerization of glycidyl methacrylate, ethylene glycol dimethacrylate and methyl methacrylate in the presence of formamide and 1-propanol as the porogen solvents. The porous chiral monolithic stationary phases were prepared by reaction of the epoxy-groups at the surface of the monolith with (+)-1-(4-aminobutyl)-(5R,8S,10R)-terguride. To attain the minimum HETP values for the enantiodiscrimination of 2-phenoxypropionic acid, the influence of the composition of polymerization solution on column total porosity and efficiency was investigated. Optimum mobile phase conditions were found for all analytes tested using acetonitrile-methanol mixtures containing triethylamine and acetic acid as the buffer components. Furthermore, the chemical and mechanical stabilities of the columns were satisfactory, allowing hundreds of analyses.