High-performance liquid chromatographic separation of fluoroquinolone enantiomers: a review

Fluoroquinolones are antibacterial agents widely used clinically. In recent years, there has been an important development of new derivatives, and more than 7000 analogues have been described today. Different fluoroquinolones (FQ) have one or two chiral centers in their chemical structure and are available as racemates, diastereoisomers, or pure enantiomers. The clinical and pharmaceutical uses of these compounds need effective analytical procedures for quality control and pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic studies. This review article focuses on the high-performance liquid chromatographic separation of fluoroquinolone stereoisomers by the use of derivatization methods and ligand exchange (LE) or chiral liquid chromatography.