Chiral Separation by Chromatographic and Electrophoretic Methods Applied in the Enantioseparation of Pharmaceuticals

Dear Colleagues,

Chirality is a property of asymmetry which governs life, as all molecules in nature function in the form of pure enantiomers. A large number synthetic substance exists and are used in different domains as racemic mixture, however in many cases the differences between the effects and profiles of their enantiomers are well known and documented. The development of new advanced analytical methods for the enantioseparation of chiral substances is a necessity but also remains one of the most challenging tasks in separation science.

The guidelines for the development of new drugs issued by regulating authorities (FDA, EMA) for the development of new pharmaceuticals call for effective enantiomeric purity control methods. During the last three decades, a wide range of approaches based on chromatographic techniques (high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), gas chromatography (GC), supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC)) and electrophoretic (capillary electrophoresis (CE), capillary electrochromatography (CEC) have been developed for enantiomer separation on an analytical scale.

HPLC can be used to separate enantiomers either directly using chiral stationary phases or chiral mobile phase additives or indirectly with chiral derivatization reagents. The same methodologies apply also for CE separations, however most of the CE methods using a direct chiral separation method by simply adding a chiral selector in the background electrolyte.

This Special Issue covers all aspects of enantioseparation of chiral substances of pharmaceutical interest, emphasizing on the chiral determination of biologically active compounds in complex matrices, including biological ones. Additionally, research and review articles related to new aspects of chiral synthesis, analysis, pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic of molecules with pharmaceutical use will be included.

Dr. Gabriel Hancu
Guest Editor

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