Enantiomeric separation of epinephrine and salbutamol by micellar electrokinetic chromatography using β-cyclodextrin as chiral additive

Enantiomeric separations of epinephrine and salbutamol, by means of micellar electrokinetic chromatography (MEKC) employing β-cyclodextrin as chiral additive in ammonium chloride-ammonia solution were investigated. In this system, the analytes migrated with the micellar phase towards the anode and were detected by electrochemistry using gold microelectrode at +0.65 V vs. SCE. The success of the chiral separations is strongly dependent on the concentration of β-CD and SDS, and the optimal concentration is 8 mmol·L⁻¹ and 15 mmol·L⁻¹ respectively. The effects of detection potential, pH value of electrolyte and applied voltage were discussed also. Using the proposed method, baseline separation of the enantiomers could be accomplished in 6 min. Further, an attempt was made to elucidate the plausible mechanism of the chiral recognition.