Advantages of pentafluorophenylpropyl stationary phase over conventional C18 stationary phase--application to analysis of triamcinolone acetonide

A pentafluorophenylpropyl (PFPP) stationary phase was for the first time tested for the simultaneous determination of triamcinolone acetonide, its degradation product triamcinolone and two preservatives, methylparaben, and propylparaben. A new simple isocratic reversed phase HPLC method with UV detection, using estradiol hemihydrate as an internal standard, has been developed and validated. Chromatography was performed on a Discovery HS F5 column (150 mm x 4.6 mm, 5 microm) using a binary mobile phase composed of acetonitrile and water 45:55 (v:v). The flow-rate was 0.6 mL/min, the column temperature 25 degrees C and the UV detection was accomplished at 240 nm. The chromatography results using PFPP stationary phase were compared with those obtained using conventional C18 columns.