Liquid Chromatographic Separation and Thermodynamic Investigation of Mirabegron Enantiomers on a Chiralpak AY-H Column

Liquid chromatographic separation of mirabegron enantiomers on Chiralpak AY-H, a column coated with amylose tris-(5-chloro-2-methylphenylcarbamate) as a chiral stationary phase, was studied under normal phase conditions. The influence of ethanol content (30–45%) and column temperature (20–40°C) on retention, resolution and separation were evaluated. Apparent thermodynamic parameters deduced from Van't Hoff plots were used to understand chiral separation mechanisms, and the chiral separation was enthalpy driven. The optimized chromatographic conditions were using a mixture solution of n-hexane, ethanol and diethyl amine (55 : 45 : 0.1, v/v/v) as a mobile phase at a flow rate of 1.0 mL/min. The column temperature and UV detector were set at 35°C and 254 nm, respectively. The method was validated to be simple, accuracy, sensitive and robust according to the ICH guidelines, and it was suitable for the routine quality control of mirabegron enantiomers for pharmaceutical industries.