Efficiency of extraction and conversion of pseudoephedrine to methamphetamine from tamper-resistant and non-tamper-resistant formulations.

Clandestine chemists have demonstrated an ability to convert commercially available pseudoephedrine formulations to methamphetamine. Some of these formulations have properties that manufacturers claim limit or block the extraction of pseudoephedrine and its direct conversion to methamphetamine. In this study, 3 commercially available pseudoephedrine formulations were evaluated for ease of extraction and conversion to methamphetamine using a common chemistry technique called the one-pot method that is frequently employed by clandestine chemists. Two marketed pseudoephedrine formulations with claimed tamper-resistant properties - Zephrex-D® and Nexafed® - were compared to Sunmark®, a comparator formulation of pseudoephedrine without tamper-resistant properties. Particle size reduction was conducted using 8 readily available tools; solubility was assessed using 2 common aqueous solutions and various reaction conditions (e.g., temperature, stirring); extractability was evaluated using 8 common organic solvents. The one-pot (single vessel) method commonly used in clandestine processes was employed; chemicals and equipment were purchased locally on the open market. Quantities and addition times of the chemicals used to carry out the procedure and the duration of the reaction were varied to determine the effect on methamphetamine yield. The procedure was appropriately scaled and conducted in a controlled environment to reduce risk and maximize yields. Pseudoephedrine and methamphetamine were quantified using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Standard quantitative procedures were used to determine the quantities of pseudoephedrine and methamphetamine recovered and produced, respectively. Particle size reduction resulted in some loss of material of each pseudoephedrine formulation; Zephrex-D tablets were broken down to a coarse material; Nexafed and Sunmark tablets were reduced to a fine powder. The solubility rates of intact and ground tablets varied by product; Zephrex-D was most resistant to solubilizing while Nexafed and Sunmark were comparable and dissolved completely, demonstrating no solubility-resistant properties. Conditions of the one-pot method were modified throughout the studies to increase methamphetamine yield. Using optimal parameters identified in these studies and allowing the reaction to proceed for 90 min, average percent conversions were similar for the 3 formulations: 43.3% for Zephrex-D, 46.4% for Nexafed, and 48.6% for Sunmark. The greatest conversion occurred with a 150 min reaction time and resulted in 44.8%-48.4% conversion of Zephrex-D, 54.1%-66.4% conversion of Nexafed, and 58.6%-71.8% conversion of Sunmark. This series of methodological evaluations demonstrated that clandestine chemists can readily produce similar yields of methamphetamine using pseudoephedrine products with and without claimed tamper-resistant technology.

New model for prediction binary mixture of antihistamine decongestant using artificial neural networks and least squares support vector machine by spectrophotometry method.

In the present study, artificial neural networks (ANNs) and least squares support vector machines (LS-SVM) as intelligent methods based on absorption spectra in the range of 230-300nm have been used for determination of antihistamine decongestant contents. In the first step, one type of network (feed-forward back-propagation) from the artificial neural network with two different training algorithms, Levenberg-Marquardt (LM) and gradient descent with momentum and adaptive learning rate back-propagation (GDX) algorithm, were employed and their performance was evaluated. The performance of the LM algorithm was better than the GDX algorithm. In the second one, the radial basis network was utilized and results compared with the previous network. In the last one, the other intelligent method named least squares support vector machine was proposed to construct the antihistamine decongestant prediction model and the results were compared with two of the aforementioned networks. The values of the statistical parameters mean square error (MSE), Regression coefficient (R2), correlation coefficient (r) and also mean recovery (%), relative standard deviation (RSD) used for selecting the best model between these methods. Moreover, the proposed methods were compared to the high- performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) as a reference method. One way analysis of variance (ANOVA) test at the 95% confidence level applied to the comparison results of suggested and reference methods that there were no significant differences between them.

Two-dimensional correlation infrared spectroscopy applied to the identification of ephedrine and pseudoephedrine in illegally adulterated slimming herbal products.

Two-dimensional correlation spectroscopy (2DCOS) was employed for the identification of ephedrine (Ep) and pseudoephedrine (Ps) present in illegally adulterated slimming herbal products (SHPs). Second derivative (SD) spectral pretreatment was used prior to 2DCOS analysis to highlight specific features not readily observable by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), SD-FTIR, or original 2DCOS, leading to enhanced resolution and a reduced lower limit of detection (<1% in this study). After examining the power spectra of suspicious SHPs, bands containing characteristic peaks for Ep (701, 747, 1042, 1363, 1375, 1451, 1478 cm-1 etc) and/or Ps (703, 767, 1037, 1375, 1428, 1455, 1590 cm- 1, etc.) were selected to construct synchronous and asynchronous maps for further analysis, while the latter was applied to discriminate positive SHPs adulterated simultaneously with Ep and Ps. The proposed method is simple and economical and has the potential to identify other chemicals in illegally adulterated herbal products. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Direct detection of phenylephrine 3-O-sulfate in LS180 human intestinal cells using a novel hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC) assay.

The efficacy of phenylephrine (PE) is controversial due to its extensive pre-systemic metabolism through sulfation to form phenylephrine-3-O-sulfate (PES). Hence quantitation of PES is important in order to study the metabolism of PE. There are no published methods available for direction detection of PES. We have developed and validated a hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC) method for the direct detection of PES and simultaneous detection of PE to study the enzyme kinetics and metabolism of PE to enable approaches to reduce the presystemic metabolism of PE. This is the first method which facilitates direct detection of PES and simultaneous detection of PE using a zwitterionic HILIC column with improved sensitivity in a single short run. The observed quantitative ranges of our method for PE and PES were 0.39-200µM and 0.0625-32µM (respectively) with a run time of 6.0min. The method was applied to the determination of PE and PES in LS180 human intestinal cell line, recombinant enzymes and human intestinal cytosol (HIC).

Comparative study between recent methods manipulating ratio spectra and classical methods based on two-wavelength selection for the determination of binary mixture of antazoline hydrochloride and tetryzoline hydrochloride.

A comparative study was developed between two classical spectrophotometric methods (dual wavelength method and Vierordt's method) and two recent methods manipulating ratio spectra (ratio difference method and first derivative of ratio spectra method) for simultaneous determination of Antazoline hydrochloride (AN) and Tetryzoline hydrochloride (TZ) in their combined pharmaceutical formulation and in the presence of benzalkonium chloride as a preservative without preliminary separation. The dual wavelength method depends on choosing two wavelengths for each drug in a way so that the difference in absorbance at those two wavelengths is zero for the other drug. While Vierordt's method, is based upon measuring the absorbance and the absorptivity values of the two drugs at their λ(max) (248.0 and 219.0 nm for AN and TZ, respectively), followed by substitution in the corresponding Vierordt's equation. Recent methods manipulating ratio spectra depend on either measuring the difference in amplitudes of ratio spectra between 255.5 and 269.5 nm for AN and 220.0 and 273.0 nm for TZ in case of ratio difference method or computing first derivative of the ratio spectra for each drug then measuring the peak amplitude at 250.0 nm for AN and at 224.0 nm for TZ in case of first derivative of ratio spectrophotometry. The specificity of the developed methods was investigated by analyzing different laboratory prepared mixtures of the two drugs. All methods were applied successfully for the determination of the selected drugs in their combined dosage form proving that the classical spectrophotometric methods can still be used successfully in analysis of binary mixture using minimal data manipulation rather than recent methods which require relatively more steps. Furthermore, validation of the proposed methods was performed according to ICH guidelines; accuracy, precision and repeatability are found to be within the acceptable limits. Statistical studies showed that the methods can be competitively applied in quality control laboratories.

Chemometrics resolution and quantification power evaluation: Application on pharmaceutical quaternary mixture of Paracetamol, Guaifenesin, Phenylephrine and p-aminophenol.

Three advanced chemmometric-assisted spectrophotometric methods namely; Concentration Residuals Augmented Classical Least Squares (CRACLS), Multivariate Curve Resolution-Alternating Least Squares (MCR-ALS) and Principal Component Analysis-Artificial Neural Networks (PCA-ANN) were developed, validated and benchmarked to PLS calibration; to resolve the severely overlapped spectra and simultaneously determine; Paracetamol (PAR), Guaifenesin (GUA) and Phenylephrine (PHE) in their ternary mixture and in presence of p-aminophenol (AP) the main degradation product and synthesis impurity of Paracetamol. The analytical performance of the proposed methods was described by percentage recoveries, root mean square error of calibration and standard error of prediction. The four multivariate calibration methods could be directly used without any preliminary separation step and successfully applied for pharmaceutical formulation analysis, showing no excipients' interference.

Computation of geometric representation of novel spectrophotometric methods used for the analysis of minor components in pharmaceutical preparations.

Novel spectrophotometric methods were applied for the determination of the minor component tetryzoline HCl (TZH) in its ternary mixture with ofloxacin (OFX) and prednisolone acetate (PA) in the ratio of (1:5:7.5), and in its binary mixture with sodium cromoglicate (SCG) in the ratio of (1:80). The novel spectrophotometric methods determined the minor component (TZH) successfully in the two selected mixtures by computing the geometrical relationship of either standard addition or subtraction. The novel spectrophotometric methods are: geometrical amplitude modulation (GAM), geometrical induced amplitude modulation (GIAM), ratio H-point standard addition method (RHPSAM) and compensated area under the curve (CAUC). The proposed methods were successfully applied for the determination of the minor component TZH below its concentration range. The methods were validated as per ICH guidelines where accuracy, repeatability, inter-day precision and robustness were found to be within the acceptable limits. The results obtained from the proposed methods were statistically compared with official ones where no significant difference was observed. No difference was observed between the obtained results when compared to the reported HPLC method, which proved that the developed methods could be alternative to HPLC techniques in quality control laboratories.

Evaluating the efficiency of spectral resolution of univariate methods manipulating ratio spectra and comparing to multivariate methods: an application to ternary mixture in common cold preparation.

Simple, accurate, and selective methods have been developed and validated for simultaneous determination of a ternary mixture of Chlorpheniramine maleate (CPM), Pseudoephedrine HCl (PSE) and Ibuprofen (IBF), in tablet dosage form. Four univariate methods manipulating ratio spectra were applied, method A is the double divisor-ratio difference spectrophotometric method (DD-RD). Method B is double divisor-derivative ratio spectrophotometric method (DD-RD). Method C is derivative ratio spectrum-zero crossing method (DRZC), while method D is mean centering of ratio spectra (MCR). Two multivariate methods were also developed and validated, methods E and F are Principal Component Regression (PCR) and Partial Least Squares (PLSs). The proposed methods have the advantage of simultaneous determination of the mentioned drugs without prior separation steps. They were successfully applied to laboratory-prepared mixtures and to commercial pharmaceutical preparation without any interference from additives. The proposed methods were validated according to the ICH guidelines. The obtained results were statistically compared with the official methods where no significant difference was observed regarding both accuracy and precision.

The development and application of a system for simultaneously determining anti-infectives and nasal decongestants using on-line solid-phase extraction and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry.

A method for the simultaneous analysis of antibiotics, antiviral and nasal decongestants in treated sewage effluent and surface water has been developed and validated. The method uses on-line solid phase extraction (SPE) of injected high-volume samples in conjunction with liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). This method includes a range of antibiotics (Trimethoprim, Oxytetracycline, Ofloxacin, Norfloxacin, Ciprofloxacin, Azithromycin, Doxycycline, Sulfamethoxazole, Erythromycin and Clarithromycin), an antiviral (Oseltamivir) and nasal decongestants (Naphazoline, Oxymetazoline and Xylometazoline). The method's detection limits (MDLs) ranged from (0.2 ng L(-1)) to (3.1 ng L(-1)), based on a 1 mL extraction volume. Its intra-day precision was determined by performing nine runs with 200 ng L(-1) samples; the intra-day relative standard deviation (RSD) ranged from 1% to 19%. Inter-day precision was determined by analyzing samples in triplicate over the course of three days, yielding relative standard deviations ranging from <5% to <26%. The linearity (R(2)) for all compounds tested was >0.90. Spike relative recoveries ranged from 40% to 157% and 40% to 152% for STP effluent and surface water samples, respectively. Finally, the method was used to analyze real effluent and surface water.

LC for analysis of two sustained-release mixtures containing cough cold suppressant drugs.

A liquid chromatographic method was applied for the analysis of two sustained-release mixtures containing dextromethorphane hydrobromide, carbinoxamine maleate with either phenylephrine hydrochloride in pharmaceutical capsules (Mix 1) or phenyl-propanolamine, methylparaben, and propylparaben, which bonds as a drug base to ion exchange resin in pharmaceutical syrup (Mix 2). The method was used for their simultaneous determination using a CN column with a mobile phase consisting of acetonitrile-12 mM ammonium acetate in the ratio of 60:40 (v/v, pH 6.0) for Mix 1 and 45:55 (v/v, pH 6.0) for Mix 2.

Real-time breath gas analysis for pharmacokinetics: monitoring exhaled breath by on-line proton-transfer-reaction mass spectrometry after ingestion of eucalyptol-containing capsules.

Eucalyptol (1,8-cineole) is a common active agent in non-prescription pharmaceutical products that is employed to clear the airways during mucus blockages. Following ingestion of a eucalyptol-containing capsule, the capsule dissolves in the gut and transfers eucalyptol into the blood, which is subsequently expelled via the lungs, thus exposing this decongesting and inflammation-abating compound to the airways. The breath gas concentrations of eucalyptol in 11 healthy adult volunteers were monitored at regular intervals after capsule ingestion using on-line proton-transfer-reaction mass spectrometry (PTR-MS). Eucalyptol appeared in exhaled breath gas at varying times following ingestion, with its onset ranging from 1 h and 6 min to 4 h and 48 min (mean ± SD: 2.1 ± 0.5 h). Maximum concentrations also varied greatly, with peak eucalyptol levels between 106 and 1589 ppb(v) (mean ± SD: 489 ± 319 ppb(v)). These variations were not only inter-subject, but also intra-subject, i.e. repeated tests with the same participant yielded different onset times and a broad range of concentration maxima. A considerable contribution to these variations from infrequent sampling and analysis is discussed. This study characterized the temporal transfer of eucalyptol via the blood into the airways by examining exhaled breath and thereby demonstrated the suitability of on-line breath gas analyses, particularly PTR-MS, for certain pharmacokinetic investigations.

Online concentration by head-column field-amplified with large-volume sample stacking using flow injection-capillary electrophoresis for the analysis of four active components in cold medicines.

A simple, effective, and sensitive online concentration method for the detection of dextromethorphan hydrobromide (Dex), chlorphenamine hydrogen maleate (Chl), pseudoephedrine hydrochloride (Pse) and paracetamol (Par) based on flow injection-capillary electrophoresis (FI-CE) analysis with head-column field-amplified sample stacking and large-volume sample stacking was developed. The background electrolyte (BGE) was a solution composed of 55 mM borate-15% (v/v) acetonitrile (ACN) (pH 9.3). The sample was injected electrokinetically between plugs of water. Under the optimum conditions, about a 30-fold improvement in the concentration sensitivity relative to normal CE methods was achieved, giving low limits of detection (LOD) of 1.94 x 10(-5), 0.64 x 10(-5), 1.16 x 10(-5) and 2.84 x 10(-5) mg/mL for Dex, Chl, Pse and Par, respectively. The repeatability (defined as RSD) was 1.01, 1.91, 0.89 and 0.92% with the peak-area evaluation and 1.94, 3.98, 2.66 and 3.27% with the peak-height evaluation for Dex, Chl, Pse and Par, respectively. This method has been successfully applied to the analysis of commercial pharmaceutical preparations containing Dex, Chl, Pse and Par.

Alternative and improved method for the simultaneous determination of fexofenadine and pseudoephedrine in their combined tablet formulation.

An alternative method for the determination of fexofenadine (FEX) and pseudoephedrine (PSE) in their combined tablet formulation has been developed, employing the partial least squares (PLS) analysis of spectral data of the analytes in their pharmaceutical association. A full-factorially designed set of 16 synthetic samples was employed for calibration purposes. The calibration models were constructed with wavelengths selection, in the ultraviolet region, according to their predictive ability. These were validated internally by the leave-one-out procedure and externally, employing appropriate sets of validation samples. The described method was linear for both analytes, over the range 160.6-301.2 mg L(-1) for FEX (R(2)=0.9993) and between 325.6 and 610.5 mg L(-1) for PSE (R(2)=0.9992). It was accurate, exhibiting 99.8% and 99.9% drug recoveries for FEX and PSE, respectively (N=9), while in the intermediate precision experiment relative standard deviations were 1.4% for FEX and 1.2% for PSE. The contents of both analytes were assayed in commercial tablets employing this method and the results were compared with those furnished by HPLC, being in good statistical agreement. The method represents an improvement over the first derivative of spectral ratio (DSR) technique and allows high sample throughput with minimum reagent consumption and waste generation. The obtained results confirm that the method is highly suitable for its intended purpose.

A new hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatographic (HILIC) procedure for the simultaneous determination of pseudoephedrine hydrochloride (PSH), diphenhydramine hydrochloride (DPH) and dextromethorphan hydrobromide (DXH) in cough-cold formulations.

A new HILIC method has been developed for the simultaneous determination of pseudoephedrine hydrochloride (PSH), diphenhydramine hydrochloride (DPH) and dextromethorphan hydrobromide (DXH) in cough-cold syrup. Mobile phase consists of methanol:water (containing 6.0 g of ammonium acetate and 10 mL of triethylamine per liter, pH adjusted to 5.2 with orthophosphoric acid), 95:5 (v/v). Column containing porous silica particles (Supelcosil LC-Si, 25 cm x 4.6 mm, 5 microm) is used as stationary phase. Detection is carried out using a variable wavelength UV-vis detector at 254 nm for PSH and DPH, and at 280 nm for DXH. Solutions are injected into the chromatograph under isocratic condition at constant flow rate of 1.2 mL/min. Linearity range and percent recoveries for PSH, DPH and DXH were 150-600, 62.5-250, 75-300 microg/mL and 100.7%, 100.1% and 100.8%, respectively. Method is stability indicating and excipients like saccharin sodium, sodium citrate, flavour and sodium benzoate did not interfere in the analysis. Compounds elute in order of increasing ionization degree caused by cation-exchange mechanism in a run time of less than 15 min. Mobile phase pH is manipulated to regulate ionization and ion-exchange interaction and thereby retention of compounds.

Major degradation product identified in several pharmaceutical formulations against the common cold.

Different pharmaceutical preparations against the common cold contain acetaminophen, phenylephrine hydrochloride, and chlorpheniramine maleate. A degradation product had been discovered in these preparations after short- and long-term stability studies. This degradation product was isolated and found to be an adduct of phenylephrine and maleic acid. An account of the isolation and characterization of this compound was published. Our interest in this area led us to synthesize the compound, and we found that the synthesized compound does not have the same spectroscopic properties described in the original paper. Our subsequent work identified the structure of the degradation product as a "Michael addition" product of phenylephrine and maleic acid.

Simultaneous determination of triamcinolone acetonide and oxymetazoline hydrochloride in nasal spray formulations by HPLC.

A high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method with UV detection at 232 nm was developed and validated for the simultaneous determination of triamcinolone acetonide (TAA) and oxymetazoline hydrochloride (OXY) in nasal spray formulations. The chromatographic system consisted of a micro Bondapak CN column (150 mm x 3.9 mm), 5 microm particle size with a mobile phase composition of acetonitrile:ammonium acetate (pH 5.0, 20mM) (10:90, v/v) at a flow rate of 1.0 mL/min. Calibration curves were linear for both TAA and OXY in the concentration range of 2.5-25.0 microg/mL. The limit of detection and quantitation were 0.29 and 0.88 microg/mL for OXY and 0.24 and 0.73 microg/mL for TAA. The described method was further applied to the analysis and stability studies of two nasal spray formulations I and II prepared from TAA and OXY commercial nasal spray products. The stability of OXY and TAA in the commercial products and the nasal formulations I and II were analyzed after 30 days at room temperature and 30 days at 40 degrees C/60% relative humidity. The results of the stability study showed that OXY and TAA in the commercial nasal spray products and the nasal formulations I and II were stable at 20-25 degrees C (room temperature) but TAA was unstable at 40 degrees C/60% relative humidity. TAA exhibited more than 10% loss at 14 days in both the nasal formulations and in the commercial products. OXY showed increased degradation at 40 degrees C/60% relative humidity but <10%.

Systematic comparison of different functionality columns for a classical pharmaceutical problem.

The performance of five reversed-phase columns which included a standard C18 phase, a polar embedded phase (amide group), a polyethyleneglycol phase, a cyano phase, and a perfluorinated phase, all coming from the same manufacturer, have been studied. They were systematically compared with a test mixture containing basic, neutral and acidic compounds of very different polarities, as well as different functional groups (acetaminophen, phenylephrine hydrochloride or phenylpropanolamine hydrochloride, chlorpheniramine maleate, 4-aminophenol, 4-chloracetanilide and 4-nitrophenol) at three pH levels (2.5, 4.6 and 7.0) and three proportions of buffer/acetonitrile (80:20, 50:50 and 20:80, v/v). The results obtained have permitted our group to develop unique applications with these columns, as these compounds are not only a test mixture, due to their chemical characteristics, but they are also usually contained in pharmaceutical formulations for the relief of common cold symptoms and have been selected as a real-life case study. Moreover, after observing the reversed-phase and normal-phase-like characteristics for certain analytes on the perfluorinated phase, a systematic study was developed in this column to understand the chromatographic behaviour of these compounds at three pH (2.5, 4.6 and 7.0) and seven different organic proportions from 20 to 80% acetonitrile. The predominant electrostatic interactions observed on the perfluorinated phase could explain its special behaviour and the high retention at higher percentages of organic solvent, especially for amine compounds, which makes this column very advantageous in working with LC/MS. Different applications with volatile buffers, such as TFA at pH 2.5 and ammonium acetate at pH 4.6 and 7.0, were also considered. Some results have been related to parameters frequently employed for column description.

Simultaneous determination of some active ingredients in cough and cold preparations by gas chromatography, and method validation.

A simple and rapid gas chromatographic (GC) method has been developed for the simultaneous determination of combinations of acetaminophen, phenylpropanolamine hydrochloride, guaifenesin, pseudoephedrine hydrochloride, caffeine, chlorpheniramine maleate, and dextromethorphan hydrobromide in cough and cold tablets and syrups. After extraction of the analyte with alkaline ethyl acetate, 2 microL extract was injected (splitting ratio of 50:1) into a gas chromatograph equipped with a CBP1-M25-025 fused silica capillary column (25 m x 0.22 mm; film thickness, 0.25 microm). The column temperature was held at 150 degrees C for 5 min, increased to 175 degrees C at 3 degrees C/min, and increased to 270 degreesC at 10 degrees C/min. The temperatures of the flame ionization detector and injector were maintained at 300 degrees C. The GC method is inexpensive, rapid, accurate, and precise, and thus it can be used for routine analysis of tablet and syrup preparations in quality control laboratories of pharmaceutical companies.

Simultaneous analysis of the H1-antihistamine acrivastine and the decongestant pseudoephedrine hydrochloride by high-performance liquid chromatography.

High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was used for the simultaneous quantification of the H(1)-antihistamine acrivastine and the decongestant pseudoephedrine hydrochloride. Both compounds were detected at the wavelength of 214 nm. The influence of the mobile phase and the detection wavelength was evaluated and optimized. This method was used to assay various samples from studies of the commercial preparation Semprex-D capsules. The method was found to be accurate, specific, selective, rapid, and versatile for use in routine quality control analyses.

Complementary use of partial least-squares and artificial neural networks for the non-linear spectrophotometric analysis of pharmaceutical samples.

The complementary use of partial least-squares (PLS) multivariate calibration and artificial neural networks (ANNs) for the simultaneous spectrophotometric determination of three active components in a pharmaceutical formulation has been explored. The presence of non-linearities caused by chemical interactions was confirmed by a recently discussed methodology based on Mallows augmented partial residual plots. Ternary mixtures of chlorpheniramine, naphazoline and dexamethasone in a matrix of excipients have been resolved by using PLS for the two major analytes (chlorpheniramine and naphazoline) and ANNs for the minor one (dexamethasone). Notwithstanding the large number of constituents, their high degree of spectral overlap and the occurrence of non-linearities, rapid and simultaneous analysis has been achieved, with reasonably good accuracy and precision. No extraction procedures using non-aqueous solvents are required.