Plans for implementation of a quality system in the control laboratory of the Romanian National Medicines Agency

This paper describes the practical implementation of a quality system in the control laboratory of the National Medicines Agency, Romania, the main aim being the alignment of the requirements of the control of drugs in Romania with European Union standards. Activity in this field is relatively new in Romania, however, it is of great importance to Romania’s compliance with international standards. Received: 13 September 2000 Accepted: 19 February 2001     

Quantitative analysis of methacycline hydrochloride by direct potentiometry using the internal solid contact sensor.

An internal solid contact sensor (ISCS) for the determination of methacycline hydrochloride (MC.Cl), Pt/PPy/PVC(MC-PT), is described, based on the use of conducting poly(pyrrole) (PPy) as solid contact material and MC-phosphotungstate (PT) as the ion exchanger and dibutyl phthalate (DBP) as the plasticizer. A direct potentiometric method for the quantitative analysis of MC.Cl is also described. Under the condition of pH 2.7, the linear concentration range, slope (25 degrees C) and detection limit of the sensor are 6.4 x 1.0(-6) - 3.0 x 1.0(-3) M, 52.4 +/- 0.2 mV/decade and 4.4 x 1.0(-6) M, respectively. The response time is <5 s. The determinations of MC.Cl in tablets were carried out by direct potentiometry. The average recovery and relative standard deviation are 100.1 and 0.7% (n = 4), respectively.     

Unusual Temperature-Retention Dependences Observed for Several Benzodiazepines in RP-HPLC Using Different Mobile Phase Compositions

Non-linear van’t Hoff plots were observed for several benzodiazepines over the usual temperature interval used in RP-LC (10–60 °C), when acetonitrile was added in the mobile phase. Such deviation from linearity was not observed when methanol or isopropanol was added to the mobile phase. Polynomial regressions were applied to fit the experimental data when acetonitrile was used as organic additive in mobile phase. The second-order polynoms may allow finding out the maximum retention depending on temperature, which can be within or out of the normal temperature range used in RP mechanism. A thermodynamic model deriving from the partition of two or more tautomers of the same analyte was proposed to explain this deviation from linearity of van’t Hoff plots.     

Lipase-mediated enantioselective kinetic resolution of racemic acidic drugs in non-standard organic solvents: Direct chiral liquid chromatography monitoring and accurate determination of the enantiomeric excesses

The enantioselective resolution of a set of racemic acidic compounds such as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) of the group arylpropionic acid derivatives is demonstrated. Thus, a set of lipases were screened and manipulated in either the esterification or hydrolysis mode for the enantioselective kinetic resolution of these racemates in non-standard organic solvents. The accurate determination of the enantiomeric excesses of both substrate and product during such reaction is demonstrated. This was based on the development of a direct and reliable enantioselective high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) procedure for the simultaneous baseline separation of both substrate and product in one run without derivatization. This was achieved using the immobilized chiral stationary phase namely Chiralpak IB, a 3,5-dimethylphenylcarbamate derivative of cellulose (the immobilized version of Chiralcel OD) which proved to be versatile for the monitoring of the lipase-catalyzed kinetic resolution of racemates in non-standard organic solvents.     

Antioxidant activity of two wild edible mushrooms (Morchella vulgaris and Morchella esculanta) from North Turkey

The ethanol extracts of Morchella vulgaris (EEMV) and Morchella esculanta (EEME) were analysed for their antioxidant activities in different systems including reducing power, free radical scavenging, superoxide anion radical scavenging, total antioxidant activity, and metal chelating activity. EEMV and EEME had similar reducing power, free radical scavenging, superoxide anion radical scavenging, hydrogen peroxide scavenging, and metal chelating activity at concentrations of 50, 100, and 150 microg/mL. These various antioxidant activities were compared to standard antioxidants such as butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA), butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT), and alpha-tocopherol. The percent inhibition of different concentrations of EEMV on peroxidation in the linoleic acid system was 85 and 87 % respectively, which was greater than that of 100 and 250 microg/mL of alpha-tocopherol (50 and 77%, respectively) and similar to 250 microg/mL of BHA (85, 87%, respectively). The percent inhibition of different concentrations of EEME on peroxidation in the linoleic acid system was 80 and 87 % respectively, which was greater than that of 100 and 250 microg/mL of alpha-tocopherol (50, 77%) and similar to 250 microg/mL BHA (87%). On the other hand, the percent inhibition of 100 and 250 microg/mL of BHT was 97 and 99%, respectively. In addition, the total phenolic compounds in EEMV and EEME were determined as gallic acid equivalents.     

Determination of cefuroxime axetil in tablets and biological fluids using liquid chromatography and flow injection analysis

In the present work, the separations of calixarene derivatives have been investigated using both high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and nonaqueous capillary electrophoresis (NACE) techniques. HPLC-1 method with LC-318 (pore size = 300 Å) column and MeCN mobile phase was optimized for the separation of calixarenes. At the flow-rate of 1 ml/min p-nitrocalix[6]arene, calix[4]arene and calix[6]arene could be well baseline and symmetrically separated within 5 min. For the separation of p-tert-butylcalix[n]arenes (n = 4, 6, 8), HPLC-2 and NACE methods have been optimized. The optimal conditions in HPLC-2 method included NH₂ column and MeCN mobile phase, and p-tert-butylcalix[n]arenes (n = 4, 6, 8) were baseline separated within 10 min at 0.8 min/min. The optimal conditions for NACE method employed MeCN-H₂O (8:2, v/v) as the nonaqueous medium and 120 mM Tris/HCl (pH 9.0) as the buffer, and p-tert-butylcalix[n]arenes (n = 4, 6, 8) were successfully baseline resolved within 16 min. With the detection at 280 nm, the calibration lines were linear in the ranges of 1-200 μg/ml for calixarene derivatives by HPLC-1 and HPLC-2 methods, and of 2.5-200 μg/ml for p-tert-butylcalix[n]arenes (n = 4, 6, 8) by NACE method, respectively. The detection limits (S/N = 3) and recoveries ranged from 0.5 to 1.4 μg/ml and from 98.1 to 102.4% by both HPLC-1 and HPLC-2 methods, and from 1.3 to 2.0 μg/ml and from 97.9 to 105.1% by NACE method, respectively. The intra-day reproducibility of the methods was determined with satisfactory results. The proposed HPLC and NACE methods were accurate and reproducible, and could be utilized to separate and determine calixarene derivatives.     

Impact of immobilized polysaccharide chiral stationary phases on enantiomeric separations

Immobilized polysaccharide-based chiral stationary phases (CSPs) are gaining importance in the resolution of racemic compounds due to their stable nature on working with normal solvents and those prohibited for use with coated phases (tetrahydrofuran, chloroform, dichloromethane, acetone, 1,4-dioxane, ethyl acetate, and certain other ethers). This review discusses the use of immobilized polysaccharide CSPs in the chiral resolution of various racemates by liquid chromatography. The discussion includes immobilization methodologies, enantioselectivities, efficiencies, and a comparison of chiral recognition capabilities of coated vs. immobilized CSPs. Some applications of immobilized CSPs to the chiral resolution of racemic compounds are also presented.