Comparison of Micellar and Reversed-Phase Liquid Chromatography for Determination of Sulfamethoxazole and Trimethoprim

A simple, sensitive, and precise micellar liquid chromatographic method for simultaneous analysis of sulfamethoxazole and trimethoprim, with ultraviolet detection at 245 nm, has been developed, validated, and used for determination of the compounds in commercial pharmaceutical products. The compounds were well separated on a Hypersil ODS reversed-phase column at 35°C by use of a mobile phase consisting of 0.1M sodium dodecyl sulfate in a 2:98 (V/V) mixture of 1-butanol and pH 3.0 phosphate buffer solution at a flow rate of 1.0 mL min^?1. A comparative study of the performance of reversed-phase liquid chromatography with aqueous-organic or micellar-organic mobile phases for separation of sulfamethoxazole and trimethoprim is reported. The study showed that micellar liquid chromatography (MLC) and reversed-phase liquid chromatography (RP HPLC) are of similar efficiency, sensitivity, and selectivity for determination of sulfamethoxazole and trimethoprim.