N-Menthoxycarbonylation combined with trimethylsilylation for enantioseparation of beta-blockers by achiral dual-column gas chromatography.

Solvent extractive two-phase menthoxycarbonyl (MnOC) derivatization was combined with trimethylsilyl (TMS) reaction for enantioseparation of beta-blockers by gas chromatography employing achiral DB-5 and DB-17 dual-columns of different polarity. beta-Blockers in alkaline solution were vortex-mixed with menthyl chloroformate present in dichloromethane to be extracted as diastereomeric N-MnOC derivatives. The subsequent O(N)-TMS reaction allowed complete enantioseparations of two beta-blockers and partial separations of five as N-MnOC/O(N)-TMS derivatives in a single analysis. The temperature-programmed retention index sets were characteristic of each derivative, facilitating chiral discrimination of each enantiomer.