LESS THAN STANDARD SEPARATION BETWEEN 2 ACR. OPERATIONAL ERROR.

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ACR X CALLED ON AT XA40 OUT OF FL350 CLBING TO FL370 EBND. ACR X'S EXPECTED RATE OF CLB DIMINISHED AT A CRITICAL TIME FOR SEP. AT XB15 I TURNED ACR X 20 DEGS LEFT AND ASKED HIM IF HE COULD BE LEVELED IN 1 MIN; AT XB24. HE SAID YES. AT XB31 I TURNED ACR Y 15 DEGS LEFT. AT XB48 I CALLED THE TFC TO ACR X OFF HIS WING 6 MI; RPT REACHING FL370. ACR X SAID AT THAT TIME THAT HE WILL NOT BE ABLE TO BE LEVELED THAT SOON. I TURNED ACR Y TO A 270 DEG HDG. ACR X CALLED THAT TFC IN SIGHT AT 4 O'CLOCK. SEP WAS LOST WITH 1100' VERT SEP AND 3.125 MI LAT. C/A ACTIVATED AT XA15. AEDP WAS SET OFF AT XC09. THERE WERE 4 SECTORS ACTIVE OUT OF 7. THERE WERE 8 CTLRS AND 1 SUPVR (GIVING 1 OF THE CTLRS A CHK RIDE AT THE POSITIONS AND 9 CTLRS ON BREAK). OF THE PREVIOUS 9; 5 WERE FPL'S; 2 FULL MANUAL CTLRS AND 2 MANUAL CTLR TRNEES. THERE WERE 13 FDB ON THE PVD; 8 ACFT ON FREQ (2 ON RADAR VECTORS; 3 CLBING AND 0 DSNDING); 3 ACFT OFF FREQ AND 2 NEW DATA BLOCKS. OVERALL; IN MY JUDGEMENT; AN ERRONEOUS JUDGEMENT I MIGHT ADD; I HAD ABOUT 4 MINS BEFORE X WOULD BE A FACTOR WITH Y. HE (X) HAD ONLY 2000' TO GO BEFORE VERT SEP WOULD EXIST. I HAD TO TAKE CARE OF OTHER TFC SITUATIONS AND DID NOT GET BACK TO THIS SITUATION ON TIME TO ACCOMPLISH SEP.