Measurement of underivatized propranolol enantiomers in serum using a cellulose-tris(3,5-dimethylphenylcarbamate) high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) chiral stationary phase.

A commercially available high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) chiral stationary phase (HPLC-CSP) has been used to measure serum levels of d- and l-propranolol. The HPLC-CSP is based upon cellulose-tris(3,5-dimethylcarbamate) and is able to stereochemically resolve d- and l-propranolol without precolumn derivatization using a mobile phase composed of hexane:2-propranol:N,N-dimethyloctylamine (92:8:0.01, v/v/v). Under these conditions the observed stereochemical resolution (alpha) of the two enantiomers was alpha = 2.2. A subject's concentration-time curve of the two isomers was determined following the ingestion of 160 mg racemic propranolol.