ABSTRACT
The chromatographic separation of enantiomers is one of the most important topics in contemporary biomedical analysis and at the same time one of the most exciting branches of chromatographic research. The basis for the separation is that the stability constants of the diastereomeric adducts formed on the surface of the chiral stationary phase (adsorbent or the liquid phase) are different. The majority of chiral drugs to be separated by chromatographic methods are primary and secondary amino derivatives and the greatest variety of derivatizing reagents are therefore also available for these compounds. Several methods have been published for the chiral derivatization of carboxylic acids with Liquid Chromatography separation of the resulting ester or carboxamide diastereomers. This chapter deals with covalent derivatizations with chiral reagents, would not be complete without mentioning briefly the possibilities of derivatization reactions with achiral reagents with the aim of improving the separation efficiency of enantiomers on chiral stationary phases.
