Naproxen is a widely used profen-type nonsteriodal anti-infammatory agent. However, up to now no applications if cellulose triacetate (CTA) or cellulose tri (4-methlbenzoate)(CTMB) chiral stationary phase for separating racemic naproxen or its derivatives have been reported. This paper reports successful separation of several types of racemic naproxen esters using pure polymer type CTA and CTB, coated bype CTB and CTMB columns. The influence of mobile phase composition and solute structure of the chiral separation were studied. The recognition mechanism was also explored. Following are the results: (1) hydrophobic interaction between the CSP and enantiomers plays an important fole in chiral recognition for pure polymer type CTB but not so important for pure polymer type CTA; (2) for coated type CTB, changing the polar alcohol modifier from ethanol to 2-propanol results in loss of chiral selectivity for some racemic naproxen esters, but the polar alcohol modifier does not influence the chiral selectivity of coated type CTMB; (3) the enantiomer elution order of racemic naproxen esters is the same on pure polymer CTB, coated CTB and coated CTMB columns, but is inversed on pure polymer type CTA; (4) for all the four types of CSPs , the steric fit the solute in the chiral cavity is the key to the chiral recognition, but the fitness is different for different CSPs.

Key words: CELLULOSE, SEPARATION, APROXEN, STATIONARY PHASE