Beta-blockers are chiral compounds with enantiomers that have different bioactivity, which means that while one is active, the other can be inactive or even harmful. Due to their high consumption and incomplete degradation in waste water, they may reach surface waters and affect aquatic organisms. To address this issue we developed a chromatographic method suitable for determining beta-blocker enantiomers in surface waters. It was tested on five beta-blockers (acebutolol, atenolol, bisoprolol, labetalol and metoprolol) and validated on bisoprolol enantiomers. Good enantioseparation of all analysed beta-blockers was achieved on the Chirobiotic V column with the mobile phase composed of methanol/acetic acid/triethylamine (100/0.20/0.15 v/v/v) at a flow rate of 0.5 mL/min and column temperature of 45 °C. Method proved to be linear in the concentration range from 0.075 µg/mL to 5 µg/mL, and showed good recovery. The limits of bisoprolol enantiomer detection were 0.025 µg/mL and 0.026 µg/mL and of quantification 0.075 µg/mL and 0.075 µg/mL. Despite its limitations, it seems to be a promising method for bisoprolol enantiomer analysis in surface water samples. Further research could focus on waste water analysis, where enantiomer concentrations may be high. Furthermore, transferring the method to a more sensitive one such as liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry and using ammonium acetate as the mobile phase additive instead of acetic acid and triethylamine would perhaps yield much lower limits of detection and quantification.
Beta-blokatori su kiralni spojevi s enantiomerima različite bioaktivnosti, dakle, dok je jedan enantiomer aktivan, drugi može biti neaktivan ili čak štetan za organizam. Zbog njihove visoke potrošnje i nepotpune razgradnje u pogonima za preradu otpadnih voda, postoji mogućnost da se pojave u prirodnim vodama i negativno utječu na vodene organizme. Stoga je u ovom radu razvijena kromatografska metoda za određivanje enantiomera beta-blokatora u prirodnim vodama. Metoda je testirana na pet beta-blokatora (acebutolol, atenolol, bisoprolol, labetalol i metoprolol) te validirana za enantiomere bisoprolola. Dobra enantioseparacija svih analiziranih beta-blokatora postignuta je na koloni Chirobiotic V sastava mobilne faze metanol/octena kiselina/trietilamin (100:0,2:0,15 v/v/v) pri protoku od 0,5 mL/min i temperaturi od 45 °C. Metodom je postignuta dobra linearnost u području od 0,075 μg/mL do 5 μg/mL s dobrim analitičkim povratom. Granice detekcije pojedinih enantiomera bisoprolola bile su 0,025 μg/mL i 0,026 μg/mL, a granice kvantifikacije 0,075 μg/ mL za oba enantiomera. Unatoč ograničenjima metode, pokazala se kao obećavajuća metoda analize enantiomera bisoprolola u površinskim vodama. Daljnja istraživanja mogla bi se izvoditi na otpadnim vodama, gdje bi koncentracije enantiomera mogle biti više. Također, korištenjem osjetljivije metode, primjerice vezanoga sustava tekućinske kromatografije i tandemne spektrometrije masa, te korištenjem amonijeva acetata kao aditiva mobilnoj fazi umjesto octene kiseline i trietilamina, mogle bi se postići znatno niže granice detekcije i kvantifikacije.
Keywords: Chirobiotic V column; Croatia; Czech Republic; HPLC; acebutolol; atenolol; enantioseparation; labetalol; metoprolol; water analysis.