Nateglinide has been employed as template for the in-situ preparation of molecularly imprinted continuous rod applied as liquid chromatographic chiral stationary phases for the separation of the enantiomers of the nateglinide. It was shown that the nateglinide-imprinted polymer (nateglinide-MIP) was capable of recognizing the enantiomeric difference of the template and its L-enantiomer, while the non-imprinted polymer had no such ability. The thermodynamic parameters in the chiral separation process were cauculated, and Scatchard analysis was performed to investigate the thermodynamic characteristics and binding characteristics of the nateglinide-MIP stationary phase. The excellent enantioselectivities for the imprinted substance, together with the continuous and homogenous structures of the in-situ MIP, boded well their use as chiral stationary phase.

Key words: molecularly imprinted polymer, chiral stationary phase, in-situ polymerization, chiral separation, nateglinide