Reversed Phase Chiral Method Development Screening for Compounds of Pharmaceutical Interest

The majority of enantiomeric separations for purity analysis and quality control continue to be performed by normal phase liquid chromatography (LC) and supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC). Yet, analysts perform over ninety percent of their routine work using reversed phase systems. When given the opportunity, reversed phase chiral methods are preferred by analysts for they do not require the complex system rinses needed when changing a reversed phase system to a normal phase setup. Because the pharmaceutical industry relies heavily on column screening for chiral method development, the viability of these screens has been studied. Using polysaccharide, macrolide and Pirkle based stationary phases in the reversed phase mode has been evaluated and compared to traditional normal phase screening capabilities. Depending on the screen and compounds applied, a reversed phase screen achieves chiral recognition 60-95% of the time making them a viable alternative to traditional normal phase chiral screens. The results of these investigations are reported.