ISSN 1017-2548(Print)
ISSN 2234-8530(Online)
Volume 46, Number 5
JKCSEZ 46(5)
October 20, 2002 

Chiral separation of gemifloxacin, an quinolone antibacterial agent, using (+)-(18-crown-6)-tetracar-boxylic acid (18C6H₄) as a chiral selector was performed by capillary electrophoresis (CE). Direct analysis of quinolone antibacterial agent in body fluid is beneficial in terms of fast analysis time, multicomponent analysis. However, high con-centration of sodium ion in body fluid can prevent gemifloxacin from interacting with 18C6H₄ since sodium ion has high affinity with 18C6H₄ due to the strong charge interaction. Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA), as a chelating ligand, was added in the running buffer in order to reduce the interaction between sodium ion and the chiral selector. Increased separation efficiency and reduced migration time were observed while sodium ion exists in the sample solution at the concentration up to 150 mM.