The complexation of buffer constituents with the complexation agent present in the solution can very significantly influence the buffer properties, such as pH, ionic strength or conductivity. These parameters are often crucial for selection of the optimal separation conditions in analytical separation techniques, particularly for capillary electrophoresis.
We demonstrate that even commonly used buffers significnatly complex with usual chiral selectors as neutral cyclodextrins. This type of complexation and the subsequent change in properties of the buffer can have subsequent practical aspects in capillary electrophoresis; namely on determination of complexation constants, development of system peaks and last but not least can deterioritate the results of electrophoretic separation.