ENANTIOMERIC SEPARATION OF BETA-BLOCKERS BY HIGH-PERFORMANCE LIQUID-CHROMATOGRAPHY

We have successfully demonstrated the principle and practical application of chiral separation with the use of a cyclodextrin bonded stationary phase. The experiment is relatively simple, inexpensive (the most costly item is the cyclodextrin column that is about $350 but with proper care, it can last for many injections), and fast (the whole experiment can be performed in the usual 4-h allocated laboratory time). Due to the commercially limited availability of the standard compounds and of the fact that we could obtain only the three actual beta-blocker drugs at the time of experiment, the present chiral separation was performed for only three drugs. However, chiral separation can be accomplished with other beta-blockers including alprenolol, cateolol, and timolol with the use of the same cyclodextrin column and the same (or with a very little variation in the concentrations) mobile phase (8).