BACKGROUND: Sub/supercritical fluid chromatography is regarded as a greener separation technique due to the use of carbon dioxide as the main component of the mobile phase compared to conventional liquid chromatography techniques. Organic co-solvents are usually added to carbon dioxide to increase elution strength of the mobile phase. Therefore, it is of great importance to test applicability of green co-solvents in separation methods and to include them among commonly used mobile phase components. RESULTS: A comprehensive study of the suitability of green solvent dimethyl carbonate as a co-solvent for enantioseparation in sub/supercritical fluid chromatography was conducted with a set of novel psychoactive substances from various groups. The experiments were performed on polysaccharide-based columns. For successful enantioseparation of these compounds, the presence of basic or mixed mobile phase additives was essential. The obtained results clearly show that dimethyl carbonate is a suitable co-solvent for enantioseparation on polysaccharide-based columns in sub/supercritical fluid chromatography and in some cases surpasses commonly used co-solvents as methanol and propan-2-ol. SIGNIFICANCE: The use of more sustainable co-solvents, such as dimethyl carbonate, instead of conventional ones to carbon dioxide presents a greener approach to analytical applications and reduces the overall environmental impact of analytical processes.

Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences University of Graz 8010 Graz Austria

Department of Physical and Macromolecular Chemistry Faculty of Science Charles University Hlavova 8 12800 Prague Czech Republic

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