Salbutamol enantiomers were resolved by the chiral ligand exchange chromatography.
(l)-Alanine and Cu(II) were used as chiral dopant and complexing ion, respectively.
The kind of cooper salt was found to be crucial factor in the enantioseparation.
DFT was employed to substantiate the separation mechanism and anion effect.
Sulbutamol-imprinted polymer was used for sample preparation before its analysis.