Reversed‐phase liquid chromatographic determination of enantiomers of atenolol in rat plasma using derivatization with Marfey's reagent

An HPLC method was established for enantioseparation of (R,S)‐atenolol (ATE) and determination of enantiomers in rat plasma. Marfey's reagent (1‐fluoro‐2,4‐dinitrophenyl‐5‐L‐alanine amide, FDNP‐L‐Ala‐NH₂, MR) was used as chiral derivatizing reagent with detection of diastereomers at 340 nm. It was shown that the R‐isomer eluted before the S‐isomer. The method was validated for linearity, repeatability, limits of detection and limit of quantification (LOQ). Recovery of ATE at LOQ was 92.8% for (R)‐ATE and 92.6% for (S)‐ATE. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.