Chiral chromatography

Chiral chromatography separates enantiomers through their different interactions with a chiral selector in the stationary phase, mobile phase, or both.

Chiral stationary phase: A chromatographic stationary phase containing a chiral selector that interacts differently with enantiomers. It provides the selector directly on the column surface or within its packing.
Enantiomer: One of two stereoisomers that are nonsuperimposable mirror images of each other. These are the paired compounds the method aims to distinguish or separate.
High-performance liquid chromatography: A liquid chromatography technique that uses high pressure to pass solvent through a packed column. Chiral columns in this technique are widely used to analyze and purify enantiomers.
Diastereomeric salt resolution: A method of resolving enantiomers by converting them into separable diastereomeric salts with a chiral reagent. It separates enantiomers through crystallization rather than differential chromatographic retention.
Chiral mobile phase: A mobile phase containing a chiral additive that forms transient, unequal associations with enantiomers. It enables enantiomer discrimination without requiring a chiral selector bound to the stationary phase.
Chirality: The geometric property of an object that makes it nonsuperimposable on its mirror image. Chiral chromatography exploits this property to distinguish mirror-image molecules.
Gas chromatography: A chromatography technique that separates volatile compounds carried through a column by a gas. Chiral stationary phases can separate volatile enantiomers in the gas phase.
Capillary electrophoresis: A separation technique that moves charged analytes through a narrow capillary under an electric field. Chiral selectors can also distinguish enantiomers in solution, but separation is driven by electrophoretic mobility.
Enantioselective recognition: The preferential binding or association of one enantiomer over another by a chiral environment. Unequal recognition gives the enantiomers different chromatographic retention.
Stereochemistry: The study of the three-dimensional arrangement of atoms in molecules and its effects. It explains why mirror-image molecules can behave differently in a chiral environment.

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