Chiral separation of propranolol by electrokinetic chromatography using nanodiamonds and human serum albumin as a pseudo‐stationary phase in river water

Abstract

AbstractPropranolol is currently considered as an emerging contaminant in water bodies. In this study, R‐ and S‐propranolol were determined in river samples by electrokinetic chromatography (EKC) using nanodiamonds (NDs) and human serum albumin (HSA) as a pseudo‐stationary phase in order to achieve enantioseparation. Previously, river samples were preconcentrated using a column filled with Amberlite® IR‐120 and Dowex® 50WX8 resins. The setting up of influential factors such as temperature, voltage, pH, and HSA and NDs concentration is accurately described along this manuscript. A multivariate study and optimization was carried out to obtain the enantioseparation of propranolol (Rs = 2.91), which was reached under the following experimental conditions: voltage of 16 kV, temperature of 16°C, phosphate buffer pH 9.5, NDs of 0.20%, and HSA of 15 μmol l−1. The recoveries of analytes under optimal conditions were higher than 98%. The limits of detection were 0.85 μg l−1 for R‐ and S‐propranolol. The method was applied to real samples, and the obtained results in three different water sources studied were 1.02, 0.59, and 0.30 μg l−1 for the R‐enantiomer and 0.99, 0.54, and 0.28 μg l−1 for the S‐enantiomer. The accuracy of the proposed methodology (including bias and precision) has allowed us to propose it as a successful tool for the control of water quality.