Article révisé par les pairs
Résumé : The use of Chirasil-L-Val, a chiral stationary phase, was investigated for the resolution of D,L-cucurbitine as esters of N-trifluoroacetyl derivatives; the influence of the esterifying alcohol on resolution and retention times was studied in comparison with those of different proteic amino acids. The separation mechanism was studied by the thermodynamic analysis of retention data. With flame ionization detection, linear calibration was found between 2 and 40 ng of each isomer detected and the detection limit was ca. 1 ng; the internal standard was methyl pentadecanoate. Comparison was made with high-performance thin-layer chromatographic determination. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry allowed the determination of the structure of synthesized derivatives and positive identification of L-cucurbitine in aqueous extracts of Cucurhita seeds.