A LC Separation and Quantification of o‐Toluene Sulphonamide and its Related Positional Isomers Using a Cellulose tris(3,5‐dimethyl phenylcarbamate)

A simple, rapid, selective and sensitive high performance liquid chromatographic method was developed for the separation and quantification of o‐Toluene Sulphonamide and its positional isomers which is an intermediate of Zafirlukast drug substance using a chiral column. Elution time was below 10 min in normal phase mode and ultra violet detection was carried out at 220 nm. Efficient separation was achieved on a Chiralcel OD‐H column using of n‐Hexane and 2‐Propanol mixture (50:50 v/v) as isocratic at 1.0 mL min⁻¹ flow rate. Resolutions between m‐Toluene Sulphonamide and p‐Toluene Sulphonamide isomers of o‐Toluene Sulphonamide were found to be >; 2.5. The calibration graphs for m‐Toluene Sulphonamide and p‐Toluene Sulphonamide isomers of o‐Toluene Sulphonamide were linear (R² > 0.999) when ranging from the limit of quantitation to 0.5%. The method is found to be selective, precise, linear, accurate and also robust. It was used for not only Quality assurance but also monitoring the synthetic reactions involved in the process development of Zafirlukast. The liquid chromatographic method is found to be specific and reliable for the determination of unreacted levels of positional isomers in reaction mass. This method was successfully validated according to the International Conference Harmonization (ICH) guidelines (Validation of Analytical Procedures: Test and Methodology Q2).