Different approaches of impregnation for resolution of enantiomers of atenolol, propranolol and salbutamol using Cu(II)-l-amino acid complexes for ligand exchange on commercial thin layer chromatographic plates

Atenolol and propranolol (the β-blocking agents) and salbutamol (broncho- and vasodilator) were resolved into their enantiomers by adopting different modes of loading/impregnating the Cu(II) complexes of l-proline (l-Pro), l-phenylalanine (l-Phe), l-histidine (l-His), N,N-dimethyl-l-phenylalanine (N,N-Me2-l-Phe), and l-tryptophan (l-Trp) on commercial precoated normal phase plates. The three different approaches were (A) using the Cu(II)-l-amino acid complex as chiral mobile phase additive, (B) ascending development of plain commercial plates in the solutions of Cu complex, and (C) using a solution of Cu(II) acetate as mobile phase additive for the commercial TLC plates impregnated with ascending development of plates in the solutions of amino acid. Spots were located using iodine vapour. The results obtained for the three methods have been compared for their efficiency and the issue of involvement of the Cu(II) cation for the best performance of the three methods has been discussed with respect to the same mobile phase. The detection limit is 0.18 μg for each enantiomer.