Coupled column chromatography in chiral separation of salmeterol.

A coupled achiral-chiral high-performance liquid chromatographic system has been developed for the determination of the enantiomers of salmeterol, S-(+)-salmeterol and R-(-)-salmeterol in urine. The salmeterol was separated from the interfering components in urine and quantified on the silica column, and the enantiomeric composition was determined on a Sumichiral OA-4700 chiral stationary phase. The two columns were connected by a switching valve equipped with a silica precolumn. The precolumn was used to concentrate the salmeterol in the eluent from the achiral column before backflushing onto the chiral phase. The coupled system was validated.