Synthesis and characterization of branched amino acid based surfactants for the separation of chiral compounds in capillary electrophoresis

Five novel amino acid based surfactants have been synthesized and utilized as chiral pseudo-stationary phases in capillary electrophoresis.  Amino acid surfactants were synthesized using L-glutamic acid and 10-undecenoic acid.  The carboxylic group of the glutamic acid was connected to amino acid alcohols L-leucinol and L-valinol.  Tripeptides were synthesized by attaching the side chain carboxylate group of glutamic acid to L-valine, L-alanine, or L-leucine. Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) and High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) were used to check the purity of the surfactants.  These surfactants were used to separate enantiomers of eight chiral analytes in capillary electrophoresis.  Preliminary concentration studies showed separation of the enantiomers of three out of the five analytes.