Enantioselective chromatography-a powerful tool for the discrimination of biotic and abiotic transformation processes of chiral environmental pollutants.

On the basis of the general principles of chirality the characteristics of chromatograms obtained by enantioselective GC and HPLC are explained, followed by a description of different enantioselective chromatographic methods (HPLC, high-resolution GC, multidimensional GC, CE, supercritical fluid chromatography) thus far applied. The potential of enantioselective chromatography is highlighted by examples of studies on microbial, enzymatic and photochemical transformation processes, on air/sea exchange and long-range transport processes, enantioselective toxic effects as well as on the fate of emerging environmental chiral pollutants such as pharmaceuticals, personal care products and the flame retardant 1,2,5,6,9,10-hexabromocyclododecane.