The synthesis is described of dodecyl beta-D-glucopyranoside-6-phosphate, a novel surfactant possessing a long-chain hydrocarbon tail and a hydrophilic head consisting of a phosphoryl group covalently linked to a (homochiral) glucose moiety; this compound, which forms micelles at concentrations above 0.25 mmol dm(-3), has been successfully used in micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography for the separation of a variety of analytes, including enantiomers.