Contemporary theory of enantioseparations in capillary electrophoresis

Abstract

The first separation of enantiomers in capillary electrophoresis (CE) counts slightly longer than three decades. Fast development of the practice and theory of chiral CE occurred in the past 30 years and today one can consider this technology to have a solid and mature theoretical background. The goal of the present review is not only to summarize the history and contemporary theory of enantioseparations by using CE but also to present the authors personal view where shall we head to with this attractive technology not only from the viewpoint of separation of enantiomers but also for better understanding the mechanisms of non-covalent (enantioselective) interactions in chemistry, biology, medicine and related disciplines.

Keywords: Capillary electrophoresis; Chiral separation mechanisms in CE; Cyclodextrins; Enantioseparations; Theory.