Optimization of o‐phtaldialdehyde/2‐mercaptoethanol postcolumn reaction for the hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography determination of memantine utilizing a silica hydride stationary phase

A rapid procedure for the determination of memantine based on hydrophilic interaction chromatography with fluorescence detection was developed. Fluorescence detection after postcolumn derivatization with o‐phtaldialdehyde/2‐mercaptoethanol was performed at excitation and emission wavelengths of 345 and 450 nm, respectively. The postcolumn reaction conditions such as reaction temperature, derivatization reagent flow rate, and reagents concentration were studied due to steric hindrance of amino group of memantine. The derivatization reaction was applied for the hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography method which was based on Cogent Silica‐C stationary phase with a mobile phase consisting of a mixture of 10 mmol/L citric acid and 10 mmol/L o‐phosphoric acid (pH 6.0) with acetonitrile using an isocratic composition of 2:8 v/v. The benefit of the reported approach consists in a simple sample pretreatment and a quick and sensitive hydrophilic interaction chromatography method. The developed method was validated in terms of linearity, accuracy, precision, and selectivity according to the International Conference on Harmonisation guidelines. The developed method was successfully applied for the analysis of commercial memantine tablets.