Chiral separation by capillary affinity zone electrophoresis using an albumin-containing support electrolyte.

Chiral separations of some pharmaceutical compounds were studied by capillary affinity zone electrophoresis. Bovine serum albumin (BSA) was used as a chiral selector and added to electrolyte. For the chiral separation of new quinolone bactericidal reagents, phosphate buffer was more appropriate than borate buffer solution as the support electrolyte. The effects of BSA concentration, albumin type, pH, chiral additive, and voltage on separation were observed. As a result, chiral separations were performed in the pH range 7-8. The migration and stereoselectivities of enantiomers were changed by varying the protein concentration (more than 0.2% w/v) and voltage and by adding amino acids as chiral modifiers. This procedure is easily applicable to other compounds for chiral separation or for studies of protein binding interaction.