Preparation of (R)-N-methylsalsolinol via reversed-phase high- performance liquid chromatography using β-cyclodextrin as a mobile-phase additive

A new preparation method was devised using β-cyclodextrin as a mobile- phase additive in a reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography system. Preparative separation of the biologically active (R)-enantiomer was achieved from racemic N-methylsalsolinol. β-Cyclodextrin was removed completely in good yield by acid extraction and solid-phase extraction. By a slight modification, this method will be applicable to the isolation of various types of biologically important enantiomers.