Chiral Separation Techniques in Pharmaceutical Analysis: Current Trends and Future Perspectives

Chirality is important for the efficacy, safety and pharmacokinetic properties of many pharmaceutical compounds; hence the enantiomeric analysis is a crucial part of drug development and quality control. This review summarizes recent developments in chiral separation methods applied to pharmaceutical analysis including HPLC, GC, SFC, TLC/HPTLC, CE and CEC. Highlights include advances in chiral stationary phases, novel selectors including metal–organic frameworks and molecularly imprinted polymers, and the use of principles of green analytical chemistry. Discussion covers also the increasing use of chemometrics, molecular modelling and machine learning in the development of methods. Regulatory requirements for stereoisomeric drugs are described and future perspectives on sustainable, miniaturized and AI-assisted enantioselective analytical platforms are given.