Chirality is becoming an essential issue in modern pharmaceutical research as regulatory agencies emphasize the safety and efficiency of enantiomers in drug development. The development of efficient and reliable chiral separation methods became a necessity in the last 30 years, and capillary electrophoresis (CE), due to its relatively low costs and "green" features, is attracting increased attention. Cyclodextrin (CD) and their derivatives are the most frequently used chiral selectors (CSs) in CE, however, the use of antibiotics as CSs represents an interesting alternative. Various classes of antibiotics (aminoglycosides, ansamycins, glycopeptides, lincosamides, macrolides, tetracyclines) have been used more or less successfully for the enantio-separation of pharmaceuticals. Antibiotics offer the possibility of a multitude of potential interactions (electrostatic, inclusion, hydrogen bonding, etc.) due to their chemical diversity, allowing the enantio-separation of analytes with a wide range of structural characteristics. This article aims to review the application of various classes of antibiotics in the CE enantio-separation of pharmaceuticals. Antibiotic physiochemical characteristics, variables impacting enantio-separation, advantages, and disadvantages when certain antibiotics are used as CSs in CE are also explored.
Keywords: antibiotics; capillary electrophoresis; chiral drugs; chiral selectors; chiral separation.