A comparison of phosphated and sulfated beta-cyclodextrins as chiral selectors for capillary electrophoresis

The enantioseparation capabilities of three different functionalized beta-cyclodextrins, two sulfated beta-cyclodextrins with 4 and 15 nominal degrees of substitution and a phosphated beta-cyclodextrin with 8 degrees of substitution, were compared. While anodic detection was used with both sulfated cyclodextrins, the phosphated cyclodextrin required cathodic detection suggesting either lower ionization of the phosphated cyclodextrin or generally lower affinity of the analytes for the phosphated cyclodextrin. The effects of several experimental parameters were evaluated with respect to enantioseparation. The degrees of substitution of the cyclodextrin, pH of the background electrolyte as well as the concentration of the functionalized beta-cyclodextrin, each had a significant influence on the successful enantiomeric separation of the chiral drugs investigated.