Chiral separation principles in chromatographic and electromigration techniques

Almost half of the drugs in use today are chiral. It is well established that the pharmacological activity is mostly restricted to one of the enantiomers (eutomer). There can be qualitative and quantitative differences in the activity of the enantiomers. In many cases, the inactive enantiomer (distomer) shows unwanted side effects or even toxic effects. Even if the side effects are not that drastic, the distomer has to be metabolized and this represents an unnecessary burden for the organism. Therefore, the development of methods for the separation of enantiomers, both on analytical and preparative scale, has become increasingly important. Chromatographic techniques such as thin layer chromatography (TLC), gas chromatography (GC), supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC), and above all high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) have been used for enantiomer separation for about two decades. More recently, electromigration techniques, such as capillary electrophoresis and capillary electrochromatography, have been shown to be powerful alternatives to chromatographic methods. This review gives a short overview of different chiral separation principles and their application. Several new developments are discussed.