Enantioseparation of lomefloxacin hydrochloride by high-speed counter-current chromatography using sulfated-β-cyclodextrin as a chiral selector

Enantiomers of lomefloxacin hydrochloride were separated by high-speed counter-current chromatography (HSCCC) using sulfated-β-cyclodextrin as a chiral selector (CS). The separation was performed with a two-phase solvent system composed of ethyl acetate–methanol–water (10:1:10, v/v) containing CS at 0–60 mmol/l in a head-to-tail elution mode, while obtained fractions were identified by polarimeter and spectropolarimeter. The results show that the concentration of the CS in the system strongly affects the peak resolution (Rs). As the concentration of CS increases, the Rs first increases reaching the maximum at 50 mmol/l and then decreases. When the CS concentration is kept constant in the solvent systems, the Rs decreases as the concentration of the lomefloxacin hydrochloride increases. The overall results of our studies indicated that sulfated-β-cyclodextrin is very useful for the chiral separation by HSCCC.