High Performance Liquid Chromatographic Assay of Hydromorphone Hydrochloride Injection

Abstract

A stability indicating high performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) method for determining hydromorphone hydrochloride in dosage forms is described. The drug was chromatographed on a C₁₈ reverse phase column, using a mobile phase consisting of sodium lauryl sulfate, acetic acid, acetonitrile and water, and detected at 280 nm. Linearity of detector response to the concentration was confirmed. The procedure showed excellent reproducibility and gave quantitative recoveries of the drug from spiked placebos. Photodegraded samples of the dosage form, were assayed by the HPLC procedure and the current USP spectrophotometric procedure. Comparison of the results showed that the USP procedure is only partially stability indicating.