Analysis of steroids. XVI

Summary ⁴-3-Hydroxy- or -acetoxysteroids can be determined as 3,5-dienes by spectrophotometry at 236 nm. This method has been employed for the determination of ethynodiol in contraceptive pills. Possible interferences by co-extracted foreign substances have been prevented by differential spectrophotometry. A combination of this method with the reduction by means of sodium borohydride made possible a determination of ⁴-3-ketosteroid contamination in norethynodrel.

---

Analyse von Steroiden. XVI

Zusammenfassung ⁴-3-Hydroxy- oder Acetoxysteroide können in Form von 3,5-Dienen spektrophotometrisch bei 236 nm bestimmt werden. Das Verfahren wurde zur Bestimmung von Ethynodiol in Anticoncipientia verwendet, wobei Störungen durch mitextrahierte Fremdsubstanzen durch Differentialspektrophotometrie verhindert wurden. Durch Kombination dieser Methode mit der Reduktion durch Natriumborhydrid konnte eine Verunreinigung von ⁴-3-Ketosteroid in Norethynodrel bestimmt werden.

---

---

Part of the lecture Differential Spectrophotometry in Pharmaceutical Analysis presented to the F.I.P. Congress, London, September, 1969. Part XV.: Mikrochim. Acta (in press).

---

The authors thank Mrs. G. Berhidai, Miss M. Kapàs and Miss J. Sütö for their technical assistance.     

Analysis of steroids. XLI. Ion-pair high-performance liquid chromatographic separation of quaternary ammonium steroids on silica.

A normal-phase ion-pair chromatographic system has been developed for the high-performance liquid chromatographic investigation of pipecuronium bromide (2 beta,16 beta-bis-(N'-dimethyl-l-piperazinyl)-3 alpha,17 beta-diacetoxy-5 alpha-androstane dibromide) and related quaternary ammonium steroids. The use of silica as the stationary phase and a 96:4 mixture of acetonitrile and water containing 0.1 mol/dm3 sodium perchlorate as the eluent with detection at 213 nm enable the potential impurities as well as the hydrolytic and oxidative degradation products of pipecuronium bromide to be separated and detected down to the 0.01% level. The above system is also applicable to the high-performance liquid chromatographic investigation of other quaternary ammonium steroids (pancuronium bromide, vecuronium bromide).     

High-pressure liquid chromatography of steroids.

After a brief discussion of the merits and limitations of high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) relative to other chromatographic methods, special problems in the application to steroids are discussed. Publications on HPLC of steroids are then discussed under the headings of individual classes, arranged generally in the order of increasing polarity.     

Antiinflammatory polymer-bound steroids for topical applications II. Controlled release of the steroids

The release of hydrocortisone and dexamethasone due to hydrolysis of the carbonate linkage from the polymeric supports of poly(oxyethyleneglycol), hydroxypropyl cellulose, and N-vinylpyrrolidone/hydrocortisone–²¹CH₂–vinylcarbonate copolymer was observed in a living system, by induction of αGPDH activity in rat C6 glial cells, and in vitro by a kinetic study of release in aqueous sodium phosphate buffer medium. The glucocorticoid release is pH and temperature dependent and highly sensitive to steric hindrance. In vivo testing on antiinflammatory activity in rats with poly(oxyethyleneglycol) and hydroxypropyl cellulose bound dexamethasone was performed. However, it produced negative results probably due to difficulty in splitting the carbonate linkage in the inflammatory region of acidic pH values.     

Translational energy release and stereochemistry of steroids. 14. Epimeric dihydroxy steroids of the androstane series

The stereochemistry of dihydroxy steroids, both the mode of the A/B ring junctions and the configuration of OH groups, may be determined from translational energy (T50%) measurements for the loss of a CH.3 radical, from the ratios of metastable-ion peak heights to those of the main beam (determined for the dehydration reactions), and by comparing unimolecular and collision-induced, mass-analysed ion kinetic energy spectra of the new main beam of [M-H2O]+ ions (i.e. those formed via dehydration of metastable molecular ions of epimeric hydroxy steroids in the first field-free region of a double-focusing mass spectrometer.     

6,19-carbon-bridged steroids. Synthesis of 6,19-methanoprogesterone

6,19-Methanoprogesterone (4) was synthesized in nine steps from the readily available 3 beta,20 beta-diacetyloxy-5 alpha-bromo-6,19-oxidopregnane (5) in 14% overall yield. The additional carbon atom was introduced by reaction of a C-19 aldehyde with Ph3PCHOCH3 under salt free conditions and subsequent hydrolysis to give the homologous aldehyde. Intramolecular addition of the newly incorporated carbonyl (C-19a) to the olefinic C-6 in ring B was achieved by means of a Prins reaction with TiCl4 as Lewis acid.