Enantioseparation of methamphetamine by supercritical fluid chromatography with cellulose-based packed column

•Chirality of drug seizure is related to the pathway of distribution and synthesis.•Enantioseparation of methamphetamine was achieved by SFC.•Additive concentration in the co-solvent was critical for separation.•The ability to determine the ratio of each enantiomer was evaluated.

The enantiomers of methamphetamine were differentiated by supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC) with an enantioselective cellulose-based packed column. The optimization of the chromatographic conditions was achieved by changing column temperature, co-solvent proportion, additive concentration, flow rate and back pressure. In particular, the additive concentration crucially changed the resolution between the enantiomers. After determining the optimized conditions, the enantiomers of methamphetamine were successfully separated. The analytical precision, accuracy and limit of detection were checked by using the authentic standard and seized real samples. We believe that chiral SFC is a promising method for enantioseparation of forensic samples.

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