LC�CMS Analysis of Sertraline and Its Active Metabolite in Human Serum Using a Silica Column with a Non-Aqueous Polar Mobile Phase

A sensitive liquid chromatography?Cmass spectrometry method for the simultaneous determination of sertraline (SER) and its major metabolite norsertraline (NOR) from serum was developed and validated in the context of a pharmacokinetic study in pregnant women. The separations were achieved on a silica column with a non-aqueous polar mobile phase consisting of acetonitrile, methanol and ammonium acetate at a flow rate of 0.5 mL min^?1. The concentrations were measured using a single quadruple mass spectroscopic detector supplied with atmospheric pressure ionization electrospray. Sample preparation consisted of a simple liquid?Cliquid procedure. The detector was set in selective ion mode for each compound of interest, 306 m/z for SER and 275 m/z for NOR. Calibration curves were generated by least square linear regression for concentration of 5?C160 ng mL^?1 for SER and from 10 to 320 ng mL^?1 for NOR. The curves for both compounds of interest were linear, with correlation coefficients r ² ?? 0.999.     

A simple method for self-attenuation correction in <Superscript>210</Superscript>Pb activity measurement in a well-type HPGe detector

A simple method for ²¹⁰Pb determination in a well-type detector for matrix with apparent densities ranging from ρ = 0.430 g cm^?3 to ρ = 2.037 g cm^?3 is presented. Ten spiked samples of ²¹⁰Pb were prepared to obtain the detector efficiency as a quadratic function of the matrix density. Then this equation was validated and successfully used to measure ²¹⁰Pb concentration activity in other samples. The equation proposed in this work is specific for each germanium detector; however it is proposed an extrapolation of the method to other well-type germanium detector by preparing a spiked sample and determining the efficiency for ²¹⁰Pb.     

GC Analysis of Amino Acids Using Trifluoroacetylacetone and Ethyl Chloroformate as Derivatizing Reagents in Skin Samples of Psoriatic and Arsenicosis Patients

The separation and determination of 19 amino acids were examined using two stages derivatization with trifluoroacetylacetone and ethyl chloroformate from the column HP-5 (30 m × 0.32 mm id) with film thickness 0.25 ??m at an initial column temperature 100 °C for 2 min with ramping of 20 °C min^?1 up to 250 °C with nitrogen flow rate of 3 mL min^?1. The detection was performed by flame ionization detector. Total separation time was 10 min. The separation was repeatable with relative standard deviation (RSD) (n = 5) within 1.5?C1.9 and 1.3?C1.7% in terms of retention time and peak height/peak area, respectively. The method was applied for the determination of amino acids from skin samples of psoriatic patients (n = 6), arsenicosis patients (n = 5) and normal subjects (n = 9) and variation in the contents of the amino acids was noted. The RSDs for the determination were obtained within 3%.     

Stability-Indicating LC Method for Analysis of Lornoxicam in the Dosage Form

A simple, rapid, and precise method has been developed for quantitative analysis of lornoxicam (Lxm) in pharmaceutical dosage forms. Chromatographic separation of Lxm and its degradation products was achieved on a C₁₈ analytical column with 0.05% (v/v) aqueous trifluoroacetic acid–acetonitrile, 70:30 (v/v), as mobile phase. The flow rate was 1.0 mL min^?1, the column temperature 30 °C, and detection was by absorption at 295 nm using a photodiode-array detector. The number of theoretical plates and tailing factor for Lxm were 6,577 and 1.03, respectively. Lxm was exposed to thermal, photolytic, hydrolytic, and oxidative stress, and the stressed samples were analysed by use of the proposed method. Peak homogeneity data for Lxm in the chromatograms from the stressed samples, obtained by use of the photodiode-array detector, demonstrated the specificity of the method for analysis of Lxm in the presence of the degradation products. The linearity of the method was excellent over the range 10–200 μg mL^?1 Lxm. The correlation coefficient was 0.9999. Relative standard deviations of peak areas from six measurements were always less than 2%. The proposed method was found to be suitable and accurate for quantitative analysis of Lxm and study of its stability.     

Fast HPLC Method for Determination of Fenoxycarb and Permethrin in Antiparasitic Veterinary Shampoo Using Fused-Core Column

A new and fast high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method using technology of fused-core columns for separation of fenoxycarb and cis-, trans-permethrin has been developed and used for their determination in antiparasitic veterinary shampoo. Separation of insecticides and internal standard sudan II was achieved on the fused-core column Ascentis Express RP-Amide (100 × 3.0 mm), particle size 2.7 μm, with mobile phase acetonitrile/water (55:45, v/v) at a flow rate of 1.0 mL min^?1 and at temperature 60 °C. The detection wavelength of detector was set at 225 nm for both compounds and internal standard sudan II. Under the optimum chromatographic conditions standard calibration curves were measured with good linearity [r ² = 0.99991 for fenoxycarb, r ² = 0.99987 for trans-permethrin, and r ² = 0.99984 for cis-permethrin (n = 8)]. Commercial samples of antiparasitic veterinary shampoo were extracted with ethanol in ultrasound bath for 5 min. A 2-μL sample volume of the filtered solution was directly injected into the HPLC system. Accuracy of the method defined as a mean recovery of insecticides from shampoo matrix was in the range 100.43–103.85 % for both insecticides.     

Densities, Heat Capacities and Asymmetric Criticality of Coexistence Curves for Binary Mixtures {Dimethyl Adipate + n-Heptane or n-Octane}

Densities of binary mixtures {x dimethyl adipate + (1 ? x) n-heptane} and {x dimethyl adipate + (1 ? x) n-octane} were measured at various temperatures. The excess molar volumes were calculated from the density data and fitted with the Redlich–Kister equation. The critical anomaly of density was detected for {x dimethyl adipate + (1 ? x) n-octane} binary solutions with the critical compositions in a narrow temperature range of the near-critical one-phase region. However, the density anomaly and the excess properties were taken into account in a test of the complete scaling theory and found to be negligible. The isobaric heat capacities per unit volume of the {x dimethyl adipate + (1 ? x) n-heptane} and {x dimethyl adipate + (1 ? x) n-octane} binary solutions at the critical compositions were also determined over the temperature range both near and far away from the critical points. It was found that the heat capacity plays an important role in describing the asymmetry of the coexistence curves.     

Spectrometric and Chromatographic Study of Reactive Oxidants Hypochlorous and Hypobromous Acids and Their Interactions with Taurine

In this study, we focused on the studying of taurine complexes with phenol and sodium hypochlorite, and of taurine with sodium hypobromite by spectrometry, reverse phase chromatography and ion-exchange chromatography. The formed complexes were studied under various conditions such as temperature (10, 20, 30, 40, 50 and 60 °C), and/or time of interaction (0, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30 min). In addition, we optimized high performance liquid chromatography coupled with UV detector for detection of taurine and its complexes with the acids. Taurine–phenol–hypochlorite complex was effectively separated under isocratic elution, mobile phase water:methanol 30:70 %, v:v, flow rate 1 mL min^?1 and 55 °C. Taurine-bromamine complex was isolated under the following optimized conditions as isocratic elution, mobile phase water:methanol 85:15 % v:v, flow rate 1 mL min^?1 and 55 °C. The limits of detection (3 S/N) were estimated as 1 μM for both types of complexes, i.e. for taurine. Further, we estimated recovery in one sample of urine (male 25 years), commercially achieved energy drink and tea leaves and varied from 79 to 86 %. Further, we aimed our attention at investigating the ability of the above characterized taurine and taurine complexes to scavenge reactive oxygen species. For this purpose, an ion-exchange liquid chromatography with post-column derivatization with ninhydrin and VIS detector was used. It clearly follows from the results obtained that taurine itself reacts with peroxide more intensely than in a bound form, which can be associated with the highest signal decrease. Complexes stabilized structure taurine against peroxide radicals, resulting in slower decreasing of peak heights. The most stable was taurine complexes with phenol and hypobromite.     

Liquid–Liquid Equilibria of the Methanol + Toluene + Methylcyclohexane Ternary System at 278.15, 283.15, 288.15, 293.15, 298.15 and 303.15 K

Liquid–liquid equilibria of the methanol + toluene + methylcyclohexane ternary system at 278.15, 283.15, 288.15, 293.15, 298.15 and 303.15 K are reported. The effect of the temperature on liquid–liquid equilibrium is discussed. Data for the ternary system is available from the literature at T = 298 K. All chemicals were quantified by gas chromatography using a thermal conductivity detector. Experimental data for the ternary system are compared with values calculated by the NRTL and UNIQUAC equations. It is found that the UNIQUAC and NRTL models provide similar good correlations of the solubility curve at these six temperatures.     

Simultaneous Analysis of Herbicide Metribuzin and Quizalofop-p-ethyl Residues in Potato and Soil by GC-ECD

A robust and sensitive method was developed for the simultaneous analysis of metribuzin and quizalofop-p-ethyl residues in potato and soil, based on solid-phase extraction (SPE) coupled to capillary gas chromatography with electron capture detector (GC-ECD). Residues of two herbicides were extracted from potato and soil with acetone and methanol–water, followed by SPE to remove coextractives, before analysis by GC-ECD. SPE procedures were performed on Florisil cartridges (500 mg, 3 mL), the analytes from potato and soil matrix were eluted with petroleum ether-acetic ether (9:1 v/v, 5 mL) and petroleum ether-acetic ether (8:2 v/v, 2 mL), respectively. Limits of quantification of the method were 0.01 mg kg^?1, and the mean recoveries ranged from 72.9 to 109.5% with relative standard deviation ranging from 0.7 to 9.2% at the three spike levels (0.01, 0.1, and 0.5 mg kg^?1). The proposed method was successfully applied to the analysis of metribuzin and quizalofop-p-ethyl residues in potato and soil samples from an experimental field. Direct confirmation of the analytes in real samples was achieved by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC–MS).     

Determination of Sulfonamides in Pharmaceuticals and Rabbit Plasma by Microchip Electrophoresis with LED-IF Detection

In this paper, we describe a compact and low-cost light-emitting diode-induced fluorescence (LED-IF) detection coupled to microchip electrophoresis for the determination of sulfonamides in pharmaceutical formulations and rabbit plasma. Three fluorescein isothiocyanate-labeled sulfonamides in rabbit plasma were separated in the running buffer of 40 mM phosphate buffer (pH 7.0) at the separation voltage of 2.0 kV, and detected by LED-IF detector in which the high-power blue LED was driven at the constant current of 150 mA and the emitted fluorescence over 510 nm was collected by a planar photodiode. The linear concentration ranged from 2.0 to 125.0 μg mL^?1, both for sulfadiazine and sulfamethazine with the correlation coefficients (r ²) of 0.995 and 0.997, respectively, and from 2.0 to 100.0 μg mL^?1 with the correlation coefficients (r ²) of 0.997 for sulfaguanidine. The limits of detection for the three sulfonamides were 0.36–0.50 μg mL^?1 (S/N = 3). Intra-day and inter-day precision of migration time and peak area for the determination of sulfonamides were <4.5 %. This method has been successfully applied to the analysis of sulfonamides in pharmaceuticals, and could be used to study the pharmacokinetics of sulfonamides in rabbit.     

Quantitative Analysis of Artemether and its Metabolite Dihydroartemisinin in Human Plasma by LC with Tandem Mass Spectrometry

We report the development and validation of a high-performance liquid-chromatographic–tandem mass spectrometric method for determination of artemether (ARM) and its active metabolite dihydroartemisinin (DHA) in human plasma; artemisinin was used as internal standard (IS). Chromatographic separation was performed on a 150 mm × 4.6 mm i.d., 5 μm particle, C₁₈ column coupled with a 4.0 mm × 3.0 mm i.d., 5 μm particle, C₁₈ guard column. The mobile phase was acetonitrile–0.1% formic acid solution, 80:20 (v/v), at a flow-rate of 1 mL min^?1. An atmospheric-pressure chemical-ionization (APCI) interface was used to produce sample ions, and positive ions were quantified by using the MS detector in selected-reaction-monitoring mode, using the reaction m/z 221 to 163 for determination of ARM and DHA and the reaction m/z 283 to 219 for determination of the IS. Plasma samples were prepared by extraction with methyl t-butyl ether, evaporation of the extract to dryness, and reconstitution of the residue with mobile phase. Extraction recovery for ARM and DHA ranged from 74.74 to 99.39%. High specificity and a limit of quantification of 5 ng mL^?1 were achieved for ARM and DHA. Linearity was confirmed over the concentration range 5–500 ng mL^?1; the correlation coefficients (R) were >0.99. The relative standard deviation for intra-day and inter-day assay of both compounds was <9.60% and inaccuracy was within ±10.81%. Stock solutions were stable at 4 °C for at least 720 h. Processed extracts were stable at room temperature for at least 24 h and QC samples were stable during three freeze–thaw cycles. In spiked human plasma under ambient conditions ARM was stable for at least 8 h whereas DHA was stable for 2 h only.     

Uranium concentration in blood samples of Southern Iraqi leukemia patients using CR-39 track detector

The simple and effective technique of fission track etch has been applied to determine trace concentration of uranium in human blood samples taken from two groups of male and female participants: leukemia patients and healthy subjects group. The blood samples of leukemia patients and healthy subjects were collected from three key southern governorates namely, Basrah, Muthanna and Dhi-Qar. These governorates were the centers of intensive military activities during the 1991 and 2003 Gulf wars, and the discarded weapons are still lying around in these regions. CR-39 track detector was used for registration of induced fission tracks. The results show that the highest recorded uranium concentration in the blood samples of leukemia patients was 4.71 ppb (female, 45 years old, from Basrah) and the minimum concentration was 1.91 ppb (male, 3 years old, from Muthanna). For healthy group, the maximum uranium concentration was 2.15 ppb (female, 55 years old, from Basrah) and the minimum concentration was 0.86 ppb (male, 5 years old, from Dhi-Qar). It has been found that the uranium concentrations in human blood samples of leukemia patients are higher than those of the healthy group. These uranium concentrations in the leukemia patients group were significantly different (P < 0.001) from those in the healthy group.     

Simultaneous Quantification of Four Sesquiterpene Lactones in Eupatorium lindleyanum DC. by RP-LC

A reversed-phase liquid chromatographic method was developed for the first time to simultaneously determine four major sesquiterpene lactones in Eupatorium lindleyanum, that is, eupalinolide A, eupalinolide B, eupalinolide C and 3β-acetoxy-8β-(4′-hydroxytigloyloxy)-14-hydxycostunolide. The chromatographic separation was achieved with a linear gradient of acetonitrile in water with a flow rate at 1.0 mL min^?1 using an Alltima C-18 column (250 × 4.6 mm, 5.0 μm). Detection was carried out using a photodiode array detector at 210 nm. The calibration curves for the determination of all analytes showed good linearity over the investigated ranges (r ² > 0.999). Repeatability was evaluated by intra-day and inter-day assays and RSD values were less than 2.7%. The recoveries were between 94.0 and 104.9%. This developed method can be used for evaluate the quality of different parts of E. lindleyanum.     

RP-LC and HPTLC Methods for the Determination of Olmesartan Medoxomil and Hydrochlorothiazide in Combined Tablet Dosage Forms

Two new, rapid, precise, accurate and specific chromatographic methods were described for the simultaneous determination of olmesartan medoxomil and hydrochlorothiazide in combined tablet dosage forms. The first method was based on reversed phase liquid chromatography using an Eurosphere 100 RP C18 column (250 × 4.6 mm ID, 5 μm). The mobile phase was methanol–0.05% o-phosphoric acid (60:40 v/v) at a flow rate of 1.0 mL min^?1. Commercially available tablets and laboratory mixtures containing both drugs were assayed and detected using a UV detector at 270 nm. The second method involved silica gel 60 F₂₅₄ high performance thin layer chromatography and densitometric detection at 254 nm using acetonitrile–ethyl acetate–glacial acid (7:3:0.4 v/v/v) as the mobile phase. Calibration curves ranged between 200–600 and 125–375 ng spot^?1 for olmesartan and hydrochlorothiazide, respectively.     

Direct Enantiomeric Separation of Chiral Pesticides by LC on Amylose Tris(3,5-dimethylphenylcarbamate) Stationary Phase under Reversed Phase Conditions

Amylose tris(3,5-dimethylphenylcarbamate) chiral stationary phase was used by liquid chromatography under reversed-phase conditions for the chiral separation of 20 pesticides, of which ten samples were separated directly under suitable conditions. The influence of mobile phase composition and column temperature from 0 to 40 °C on the separation was investigated. The mobile phases were methanol/water or acetonitrile/water at a flow rate of 0.5 mL min^?1 with UV detection at 230 nm. The two enantiomers of fenamiphos, terallethrin, fenoxaprop-ethyl, benalaxyl and lactofen could obtain base separation under optimized conditions, while the enantiomers of quizalofop-ethyl, metalaxyl, napropamide, fluroxypyr-meptyl and 2,4-D-ethylhexyl got partial separation. The retention factors (k) and selectivity factor (α) for the enantiomers of most investigated pesticides decreased with increasing the temperature. The lnα–1/T plots for enantiomers of chiral pesticides were linear at the range of 0–40 °C except for that of metalaxyl, fenoxaprop-ethyl and 2,4-D-ethylhexyl enantiomers in methanol/water. The thermodynamic parameters calculated based on linear Van’t Hoff plots showed the chiral separation was controlled by enthalpy. Better separation was not always at low temperature. The chiral recognition mechanisms were discussed. The elution orders of the eluting enantiomers were determined by a circular dichroism detector.     

LC Assay of Eletriptan in Tablets and In Vitro Dissolution Studies

Eletriptan (ELT) is a new selective serotonin agonist approved for the treatment of acute migraine headaches. A simple and rapid liquid chromatographic method was developed and validated for the assay of ELT in tablets. Chromatography was carried out on a 250 mm × 4.6 mm C₁₈ column at 30 °C. Acetonitrile–15 mM triethylamine solution (adjusted to pH 7.0 using concentrated o-phosphoric acid) (60:40, v/v) mixture was used as mobile phase at 1.0 mL min^?1 flow rate and UV detector was set at 225 nm. A linear response (r ²  = 0.9999) was observed in the range of 0.1–1.6 μg mL^?1. The method showed good recoveries (100.08 %) and the RSD values for intra- and inter-day precision were 0.78–1.93 and 1.10–2.15%, respectively. The method can be used for quality control assays and in vitro dissolution studies of ELT in tablets.     

RP-LC Determination of Residual Monomers in Polycarboxylate Superplasticizers

A procedure was developed for the determination of residual monomers in polycarboxylate superplasticizer by reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography. Seven kinds of residual monomers were quantitatively determined on a SinoChrom ODS-BP (C18) column and UV detector at 205 nm. The mobile phases which were used to determine micromolecular monomers were composed of acetonitrile and phosphate buffer solution (0.05 mol L^?1, pH = 3) in the ratio of 8:92 (v/v). While the mobile phases for long side-chain monomers testing were composed of acetonitrile and phosphate buffer solution (0.05 mol L^?1, pH = 6.5) in the ratio of 40:60 (v/v). The linear response ranged from 4.0 × 10^?6?C2.0 × 10^?3 mol L^?1. The detection limit was 0.12 × 10^?5?C0.8 × 10^?5 mol L^?1. Determination of real samples showed that relative standard deviation of high conversion rate samples was 3.1?C8.7% and standard addition recovery ratio was 91.5?C102.8%. While the relative standard deviation of low conversion rate samples was less than or close to 1% and the standard addition recovery ratio was 96.3?C103.1%.     

Rapid and Selective LC�CMS�CMS Method for the Determination of cyclo-trans-4-l-Hydroxyprolyl-l-serine (JBP485) in Rat Plasma

A rapid and selective liquid chromatographic/tandem mass spectrometric method for the determination of JBP485 was developed and validated. Following protein precipitation, the analyte and internal standard (JBP923) were separated from human plasma using an isocratic mobile phase on an Elite Kromasil C18 column. An API 3200 tandem mass spectrometer equipped with a Turbo ionSpray ionization source was used as the detector and operated in the positive ion mode. Multiple reaction monitoring using the precursor to product ion combinations of m/z 201.2 ?? 86.2 and m/z 219.2 ?? 86.2 was performed to quantify JBP485 and JBP923, respectively. The method was linear in the concentration range of 0.10?C50.00 ??g mL^?1 using 100 ??L of plasma. The lower limit of quantification was 0.10 ??g mL^?1. The intra- and inter-day relative standard deviations over the entire concentration range were less than 6.65%. Accuracy determined at three concentrations (0.25, 4.00 and 25.00 ??g mL^?1 for JBP485) ranged from ?0.78 to 2.74% in terms of relative error. Each plasma sample was chromatographed within 2.0 min. The method was successfully applied to characterize the pharmacokinetic profiles of JBP485 in rats after an intravenous injection of 6.25 mg kg^?1 JBP485.     

Studying Systematic Errors on Estimation Decision, Detection, and Quantification Limit on Micro-TLC

The decision limit (CCα), capability of detection (CCβ) and quantification limit (QL) are importance performance characteristics in method validation. The TLC-Scanner 3 from Camag provides the possibility to choose the slit dimension of light to determine the peak chromatogram of a substance. The influence of the slit dimension for determination of CCα, CCβ and QL of paracetamol has been carried out. Paracetamol was spotted onto plates of AL-TLC Si G 60 F254 by linomat 4 in the range of 50–400 ng/spot and 10–400 ng/band, then on twin chambers eluted with TAEA (toluene:acetone-ethanol:conc.ammonia, 45 + 45 + 7 + 3 v/v) for 45 mm. Eluted spots were scanned in different slit dimensions at 248 nm. The CCα, CCβ and QL of paracetamol were estimated through the linear regression (LRM) and signal-to-noise (S/N) methods. Slit lengths between 50 and 133 % of the band width of the spots, and with the noise factor of the slit under 2.6, produced good precision measurements of TLC-densitometry between plates, while slit lengths between 50 and 83 % of the band width of the spots introduced a higher sensitivity response of the detector. The estimated CCα, CCβ and QL were determined by how the data were collected, the analytical optical setting, and the usage method for the estimation of both validation parameters.