Enantiomeric separation of bupropion enantiomers by electrokinetic chromatography: Quantitative analysis in pharmaceutical formulations

The first CE method enabling the quantitation of the two enantiomers of bupropion was developed in this work. Electrokinetic chromatography (EKC) mode using cyclodextrins as chiral selectors was employed. A study on the enantiomeric separation ability of different neutral and anionic CDs was carried out. Sulfated-β-CD was shown to provide the highest values for the enantiomeric resolution. The influence of some experimental conditions, such as pH, chiral selector concentration, temperature, and separation voltage on the enantiomeric separation of bupropion was also studied. The use of 10 mM sulfated-β-CD in 50 mM borate buffer (pH 9.0) with an applied voltage of 30 kV and a temperature of 30 °C enabled the separation of the enantiomers of bupropion with high resolution (Rs > 7) and short analysis time (∼3.5 min). Finally, the method was successfully applied to the quantitation of bupropion in two pharmaceutical formulations.