Chiral separation of amino acids and peptides by capillary electrophoresis

Chiral separation of amino acids and peptides by capillary electrophoresis (CE) is reviewed regarding the separation principles of different approache s, advantages and limitations, chiral recognition mechanisms and applicatio ns. The direct approach details various chiral selectors with an emphasis o n cyclodextrins and their derivatives, antibiotics and chiral surfactants a s the chiral selectors. The indirect approach deals with various chiral rea gents applied for diastereomer formation and types of separation media such as micelles and polymeric pseudo-stationary phases. Many derivatization re agents used for high sensitivity detection of amino acids and peptides are also discussed and their characteristics are summarized in tables. A large number of relevant examples is presented illustrating the current status of enantiomeric and diastereomeric separation of amino acids and peptides. St rategies to enhance the selectivity and optimize separation parameters by t he application of experimental designs are described. The reversal of enant iomeric elution order and the effects of organic modifiers on the selectivi ty are illustrated in both direct and indirect methods. Some applications o f chiral amino acid and peptide analysis, in particular, regarding the dete rmination of trace enantiomeric impurities, are given. This review selects more than 200 articles published between 1988 and 1999. (C) 2000 Elsevier S cience BN. All rights reserved.