Sensitive determination of buspirone in serum by solid-phase extraction and two-dimensional high-performance liquid chromatography

A selective and sensitive determination of buspirone in serum by high-performance liquid chromatography is described. The procedure is based on separation on a C18 column. A solid-phase extraction procedure is used for sample clean-up. The retention on the first column is based on the hydrophobic interaction of buspirone with the stationary phase, and the retention on the second column is based on ionic interactions due to the presence of sodium lauryl sulphate in the mobile phase as well as hydrophobic interaction. This allows for good separation of buspirone from impurities and consequently allows lower detection limits than previously reported for liquid chromatographic methods. Detection by ultraviolet absorbance gives a detection limit of 0.2 ng/ml.