SEPARATION OF CYCLODEXTRINS AND THEIR DERIVATIVES BY THIN-LAYER AND PREPARATIVE COLUMN CHROMATOGRAPHY

Cyclodextrins, their derivatives and products of their partial hydroly sis are clearly separated by chromatography on silica gel by mobile ph ases containing aqueous ammonia and organic solvent (acetonitrile or 1 -propanol). This system allows separation of compounds with different numbers of substituents on cyclodextrin, but does not allow the separa tion of isomers; the system can be used both for thin-layer chromatogr aphy and for preparative column chromatography. The isomers in the fra ction thus obtained can be in some cases separated, after peracetylati on, by chromatography on silica gel using a mobile phase consisting of methanol and dichloromethane. This chromatographic sequence potential ly yields derivatives of cyclodextrins in quantities which enable eval uation of their solubilization and biological properties.