A rapid and simple approach to the chiral separation of sympathomimetic dru
gs with amino alcohol structure by ligand exchange capillary electrophoresi
s is described. An N-(2-hydroxyoctyl)-L-4-hydroxyproline/copper(II) complex
is used as chiral selector. Thirteen sympathomimetics were resolved, nine
with baseline resolution. The influence of pH and composition of the electr
olyte on resolution was investigated. The optimal pH for complexation of th
ese amino alcohols was found to be 12.