| Abstract: | A new method for nimesulide was developed using ion-pair reversed phase liquid chromatography and tetrabutylammonium hydrogen sulfate as the ion-pairing reagent. The influence of the ion pair forming reagent concentration, pH, and mobile phase composition on the retention time of nimesulide were studied. The optimum experimental conditions included a C18 column, a mobile phase of a 50/50 (v/v) mixture of acetonitrile and 15 mM phosphate buffer (pH 8.00) containing 6 mM tetrabutylammonium hydrogen sulfate, 25°C, isocratic elution, a flow rate of 1 mL/min, a run time of 10 minutes, and photodiode array detection at 404 nm. From the analysis of the results, the mechanism for the separation of nimesulide was also established. The retention time for nimesulide was 4.76 ± 0.05 min. The method was linear between concentrations of 9 µg/mL to 64 µg/mL, with limits of detection and quantification of 1.111 µg/mL and 3.390 µg/mL, respectively. The method is simple, rapid, accurate, and precise, and successfully applied for the determination of nimesulide in pharmaceutical products. |
