Comparison of separation performances of amylose- and cellulose-based stationary phases in the high-performance liquid chromatographic enantioseparation of stereoisomers of beta-lactams.

High-performance liquid chromatographic methods were developed for the separation of the enantiomers of 19 beta-lactams. The direct separations were performed on chiral stationary phases containing either amylose-tris-3,5-dimethylphenyl carbamate, (Kromasil AmyCoat column) or cellulose-tris-3,5-dimethylphenyl carbamate, (Kromasil CelluCoat column) as chiral selector. The different methods were compared in systematic chromatographic examinations. The separations were carried out with good selectivity and resolution. The AmyCoat and CelluCoat columns appear to be highly complementary. The best separations of bi- and tricyclic beta-lactam stereoisomers were obtained with the AmyCoat column, whereas the 4-aryl-substituted beta-lactams were better separated on the CelluCoat column. The elution sequence was determined in all cases; no general rule could be established.