Retention behavior of proton pump inhibitors using immobilized polysaccharide-derived chiral stationary phases with organic-aqueous mobile phases

•The chromatographic behavior of the Chiralpak ID-3 and Chiralpak IE-3 CSPs with aqueous mobile phases is presented.•Four proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) were selected as test compounds.•The retention of the PPIs could be modulated through the appropriate use of water content.•Two retention mechanisms operated: the HILIC with water-poor eluents and RPLC with water-rich eluents modes.•The baseline separation of all PPIs was optimized with mobile phases containing a high water content.

In the present study, the chromatographic behavior of two immobilized polysaccharide-derived chiral stationary phases (CSPs), the Chiralpak ID-3 and Chiralpak IE-3, under aqueous mobile phases conditions is presented. Four proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) (omeprazole, lansoprazole, pentaprazole and rabeprazole) were selected as test compounds. The effect of the concentration of water in the mobile phase was investigated with respect to its contribution to enantioselectivity and retention. Under acetonitrile–water mobile phase conditions, retention behavior evidenced an interesting pattern. At lower water content, the retention factors decreased with increasing water and at higher water content a reversed trend was observed. These findings support the hypothesis that two retention mechanisms operated successively on the same CSP: the HILIC (with water-poor eluents) and RPLC (with water-rich eluents) modes. The retention factors were minimum in the intermediate region, corresponding to a water concentration of about 20%. Interestingly, the baseline separation of all PPIs investigated was optimized under organic-aqueous mobile phases containing a high water content (from about 50 to 65%). Thus, the dual retention behavior of the PPIs on the Chiralpak ID-3 and Chiralpak IE-3 made it possible to reach greener and harmless enantioselective conditions in a short analysis time.