Liquid chromatographic resolution of racemic rasagiline and its analogues on a chiral stationary phase based on (+)-(18-crown-6)-2,3,11,12-tetracarboxylic acid.

A liquid chromatographic chiral stationary phase based on (+)-(18-crown-6)-2,3,11,12-tetracarboxylic acid was applied to the resolution of 15 analytes, including racemic rasagiline, a chiral drug for the treatment of Parkinson's disease, and its analogues. The composition of mobile phase was optimized to be ethanol/acetonitrile/acetic acid/triethylamine (80:20:0.2:0.3, v/v/v/v) by evaluating the chromatographic results for the resolution of five selected analytes under various mobile phase conditions. Under the optimized mobile phase conditions, racemic rasagiline was resolved quite well with a separation factor of 1.48 and resolution of 2.71 and its 14 analogues were also resolved reasonably well with separation factors of 1.06-1.54 and resolutions of 0.54-2.11. Among 15 analytes, racemic rasagiline was resolved best except for just one analyte. The analyte structure-enantioselectivity relationship indicated that racemic rasagiline has the most appropriate structural characteristics for resolution on the chiral stationary phase.