Zirconia-Based Stationary Phases for Chiral Separation: Mini Review

Abstract

Separation of enantiomers is one of the most interesting and challenging tasks in the field of separation science. High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and recently capillary electrochromatography (CEC) using chiral stationary phases (CSP) are two of the most useful techniques for both enantioseparation and determination of enantiomeric composition. Although silica has been extensively used as the base material for the stationary phases due to attractive properties including desirable mechanical strength, surface characteristics, catalytic inertness, and surface derivatization possibilities, it has some inherent shortcomings including the narrow range of pH and thermal stability. The zirconia-based stationary phases have shown excellent performance in the separation of wide range of compounds and have been considered as an alternative to silica-based stationary phases due to desirable chemical and physical properties such as resistance to thermal conditions, resistance to extreme pHs, and mechanical stability. Recently, zirconia-based CSPs in either particle-packed or monolithic columns have received considerable attention. This mini-review reports the development and applications of zirconia based stationary phases for chiral separations by HPLC and CEC.