Quantitative determination and validation of avermectin B1a in commercial products using quantitative nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy

Nuclear magnetic resonance is defined as a quantitative spectroscopic tool that enables a precise determination of the number of substances in liquids as well as in solids. There is few report demonstrating the application of NMR in the quantification of avermectin B_1a (AVB_1a); here, a proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (¹H NMR) using benzene 1‐methoxy‐4‐(2‐nitroethyl) (PMN)] as an internal standard and deuterochloroform as an NMR solvent was tested for the quantitative determination of AVB_1a. The integrated signal of AVB_1a at 5.56 ppm and the signal of PMN at 8.14 ppm in the ¹H NMR spectrum were used for quantification purposes. Parameters of specificity, linearity, accuracy, precision, intermediate precision, range, limit of detection (LOD), limit of quantification (LOQ), stability and robustness were validated. The established method was accurate and precise with good recovery (98.86%) and relative standard deviation (RSD) of assay (0.34%) within the linearity of the calibration curve ranging from 5.08 to 13.58 mg/ml (R² = 0.9999). The LOD and LOQ were 0.009 and 0.029 mg/ml, which indicated the excellent sensitivity of the method. The stability of the method was testified by a calculated RSD of 0.11%. The robustness was testified by modification of four different parameters, and the differences among each parameter were all less than 0.1%. Comparing with the assay described by the manufacturer of avermectin tablets, there was no significant difference between the assay obtained by HPLC and quantitative NMR (qNMR), which indicated qNMR was a simple and efficient method for the determination of AVB_1a in commercial formulation products. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.