Micellar electrokinetic chromatography pharmaceutical compounds

The elution order for neutral species in MEKC depends on the extent to which they partition into the micelles. Hydrophilic neutrals are insoluble in the micelle s hydrophobic inner environment and elute as a single band as they would in CZE. Neutral solutes that are extremely hydrophobic are completely soluble in the micelle, eluting with the micelles as a single band. Those neutral species that exist in a partition equilibrium between the buffer solution and the micelles elute between the completely hydrophilic and completely hydrophobic neutrals. Those neutral species favoring the buffer solution elute before those favoring the micelles. Micellar electrokinetic chromatography has been used to separate a wide variety of samples, including mixtures of pharmaceutical compounds, vitamins, and explosives. 

Vogt, C. Conradi, S. Rhode, E. Determination of Caffeine and Other Purine Compounds in Pood and Pharmaceuticals by Micellar Electrokinetic Chromatography, /. Chem. Educ. 1997, 74, 1126-1130. 

Dedicated applications of capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) coupled to MS are discussed, particularly in the field of drug analysis. Development of other capillary-based electrodriven separation techniques such as non-aqueous capillary electrophoresis (NACE), micellar electrokinetic chromatography (MEKC), and capillary electrochromatography (CEC) hyphenated with MS are also treated. The successful coupling of these electromigration schemes with MS detection provides an efficient and sensitive analytical tool for the separation, quantitation, and identification of numerous pharmaceutical, biological, therapeutic, and environmental compounds. 

Capillary electrophoresis has a wide applicability. High molecular weight compounds such as proteins, nucleic acids and oligosaccharides can be separated as well as smaller biomolecules such as peptides and amino acids. CE is not restricted to charged analytes. Neutral molecules can be separated from each other by employing a variation of CE called micellar electrokinetic chromatography (MEKC). This is frequently used for the separation of chiral drugs in pharmaceutical research. 

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