Enantioseparations by capillary electrophoresis using chiral glycosidic surfactants. I. Evaluation of cyclohexyl-pentyl-beta-D-maltoside surfactant

Chiral cyclohexyl-pentyl-beta-D-maltoside (CYMAL-5) surfactant was evaluated in the enantioseparation of charged racemic species by capillary electrophoresis. CYMAL-5 is a glycosidic surfactant (GS) with a chiral maltose polar head group and a cyclohexyl-pentyl hydrophobic tail. At concentrations above its critical micellar concentration (CMC), CYMAL-5 produces neutral micelles in aqueous media. The neutral micelles migrate at the velocity of the electroosmotic flow (EOF). As expected, the CYMAL-5 system was only useful for the enantioseparation of charged chiral solutes. The enantioresolution of the CYMAL-5 can be manipulated over a wide range of electrolyte composition, e.g., pH, ionic strength and surfactant concentration. In the presence of EOF, and in all cases, there is an optimum surfactant concentration for maximum enantioresolution, which is located at low surfactant concentration for strongly hydrophobic solutes and at high surfactant concentration for relatively hydrophilic solutes. The presence of an optimum surfactant concentration for maximum enantioresolution is attributed to the EOF. At low pH values where the EOF is negligible, enantioresolution increased with increasing surfactant concentration in the useful concentration range in a way similar to chromatography.