(S)-(+)-2-octanol as a chiral oil core for the microemulsion electrokinetic chromatographic separation of chiral basic drugs.

The enantiomeric separation of basic drugs was successfully demonstrated by using a novel chiral microemulsion electrokinetic chromatography (MEEKC). An interesting finding was that the chiral oil core ((S)-(+)-2-octanol) within the microemulsion droplets appeared to play an important role in the chiral separation mechanism. In addition, the enantioselectivity of the analyte-selector complex could be influenced by methanol, through an interaction with the complex. The chiral resolution (R(s)) and partition coefficient were strongly influenced by the concentration of methanol, pH, the concentration of chiral oil and the concentration of a cosurfactant. Under the optimized microemulsion conditions, the baseline separation of (+/-)-ephedrine (R(s) = 2.7), and the partial separations of (+/-)-norephedrine (R(s) = 1.3), (+/-)-synephrine (R(s) = 1.4) and (+/-)-propranolol (R(s) = 1.3), could be achieved.