Chiral analysis of pollutants and their metabolites by capillary electromigration methods

Abstract

Chiral separation of enantiomers is one of the most challenging tasks for any analytical technique including capillary electrophoresis (CE). Since the first report in 1985 showing the great possibilities of CE for the separation of chiral compounds, the amount of publications concerning this topic has quickly increased. Although chiral electromigration methods have mainly been used for enantioseparation of drugs and pharmaceuticals, they have also been applied to analyze chiral pollutants. This article intends to provide an updated overview, including works published till January 2005, on the principal applications of CE to the chiral analysis of pollutants and their metabolites, with especial emphasis on articles published in the last ten years. The main advantages and drawbacks regarding the use of CE for chiral separation of pollutants are addressed including some discussion on the foreseen trends of electromigration procedures applied to chiral analysis of contaminants.