ENANTIOMER SEPARATION OF CHIRAL INHALATION ANESTHETICS (ENFLURANE, ISOFLURANE AND DESFLURANE) BY GAS-CHROMATOGRAPHY ON A GAMMA-CYCLODEXTRINDERIVATIVE

The preparative enantiomer separation of the inhalation anesthetics en flurane (1), isoflurane (2) and, for the first time, desflurane (3) in high chemical and enantiomeric purity by preparative gas chromatograp hy on s(3-O-butanoyl-2,6-di-O-pentyl)-gamma-cyclodextrin (4) dissolved in SE-54 and coated on Chromosorb P (AW-DMCS) is described. Thermodyn amic data for the observed enantioselectivities are reported. A discre pancy between the chiroptical and gas-chromatographic assignment of th e relative configuration of 2 and 3 is discussed. The H-1- and F-19-NM R spectra of racemic 1 in the presence of 4 show good separation of th e resonances of the enantiomers of 1. Thermodynamic complexation const ants derived from the H-1-NMR spectra of the complexes formed by 4 and the enantiomers of 1 were in good agreement with those obtained by GC .