Separation of enantiomers of butorphanol and cycloamine by capillary zone electrophoresis

Butorphanol tartrate is a synthetic opioid agonist-antagonist used as analgesic, possessing three chiral centres in the basic part of the molecule. Its chiral purity is routinely controlled only by optical rotation. A new capillary zone electrophoresis method, capable to separate the enantiomers of butorphanol and intermediate of its synthesis, cycloamine, was developed. Different electrolyte composition (type and concentration of carrier ion, pH, and organic solvent addition), and type and concentration of several chiral selectors (natural and modified cyclodextrins) were tested. Using the optimized conditions (acidic electrolyte with the addition of highly sulphated gamma-cyclodextrin) as low as 0.05% of undesirable enantiomers can be detected. Selected method characteristics, i.e., linearity (0-50 mg/l), precision (2.5% at 20 mg/l), and accuracy (101 +/- 2% at 20 mg/l) were evaluated. The optimized method was applied for the analysis of real batches of butorphanol and cycloamine. It was found that butorphanol tartrate manufactured by IVAX Pharmaceuticals contains less than 0.05% of undesirable enantiomer.     

First-Derivative Spectrophotometric Determination of a Mixture of Pirbuterol Hydrochloride and Butorphanol Tartrate

Abstract

Vierordt's method, its modified version and the first derivative method have been applied for the simultaneous determination of butorphanol tartrate and pirbuterol hydrochloride in laboratory mixtures of authemtic and dosage forms. The first derivative spectrophotometric method yields accurate and reprodeucible results for both drugs. Mean percent recoveries for butorphanol tartrate and pirbuterol hydrochloride in dosage forms were 100.54±0.84 and 100.42±1.27, respectively. Virrordt's method and its modified version have given unreliable results; the reasons behind have been discussed.