Capillary electrophoretic separation of enantiomers of amino acids and amino acid derivatives using crown ether and cyclodextrin.

The capillary zone electrophoresis using (+)-18-crown-6-tetracarbonic acid as a chiral selector was a suitable method for the enantiomeric separation of racemates of amino acids and of some amino acid derivatives (esters, dipeptides). The influence of the chemical structure of the compounds on the separation was investigated. After optimization of the separation conditions, baseline separations were obtained for most racemates. The addition of acetonitrile and TBAB yielded an improvement of the separation. Improved selectivity was further observed by the application of a cyclodextrin, HP-beta-CD, in combination with the crown ether.