Effect of Trace Amounts of Water in the Mobile Phase of Normal-Phase Enantioselective High-Performance Liquid Chromatography on Selectivity and Resolution of Optical Isomers

The irreproducibility of normal-phase enantioselective high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) could be attributed to the presence or absence of trace amounts of water in one or more components of the mobile phase. The effect of trace amounts of water on chromatographic characteristics in normal-phase enantioselective HPLC was investigated by deliberate addition of controlled, trace amounts of water into the mobile phase for the separation of T-3811ME and its undesired enantiomer. Commercial 2-propanol was pre-mixed with 2% (v/v) water and then used for preparation of the mobile phase in combination with such organic modifiers as ethanol and methanol at different ratios. The results showed up to 30% improvement in the resolution (Rs), 4% in selectivity (alpha), and 39% in efficiency (plate number N) compared to using a mobile phase prepared from neat commercial 2-propanol. Thus, the effect of trace amounts of water in the mobile phase of normal-phase enantioselective HPLC was demonstrated.