Determination of flurbiprofen enantiomers in plasma using a single-isomer amino cyclodextrin derivative in nonaqueous capillary electrophoresis.

A nonaqueous capillary electrophoresis (NACE) assay was developed for the separation and determination of flurbiprofen enantiomers in plasma samples using 6-monodeoxy-6-mono(3-hydroxy)propylamino-beta-cyclodextrin as chiral selector. The nonaqueous background electrolyte was made up of 40 mM ammonium acetate in methanol (MeOH), and flufenamic acid was employed as internal standard. Solid-phase extraction was used for sample cleanup prior to the NACE separation. The NACE method reproducibility was optimized by evaluating different capillary washing sequences between runs. After having tested various conditions, trifluoroacetic acid (1 M) in MeOH was finally selected. Concerning the solid-phase extraction procedure, good and reproducible analyte recoveries were obtained using MeOH for protein denaturation and a polymeric phase combining hydrophobic interactions with anion exchange properties (Oasis) MAX) was selected as extraction sorbent. The method selectivity was not only demonstrated toward a blank plasma sample but also toward other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. The method was then successfully validated with respect to response function, trueness, precision, accuracy, linearity and limit of quantification.

Enantiomeric separation of acidic compounds using single-isomer amino cyclodextrin derivatives in nonaqueous capillary electrophoresis.

The enantiomeric separation of a series of acidic pharmaceuticals (mostly nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) has been investigated in NACE systems using single-isomer amino beta-CD derivatives. The first part of this study consisted of the selection of the basic experimental conditions to separate efficiently the enantiomers of acidic drugs. Several parameters, such as the nature of the ionic BGE components, were studied and a methanolic solution of ammonium acetate containing the cationic CD was selected as BGE. A D-optimal design with 20 experimental points was then applied and the nature and concentration of the CD were found to have a significant effect on the enantiomeric resolution for all studied compounds. Resolution (R(s)) values were always higher with 6-monodeoxy-6-mono(3-hydroxy)propylamino-beta-CD (PA-beta-CD) compared to those obtained with 6-monodeoxy-6-mono(2-hydroxy)propylamino-beta-CD (IPA-beta-CD). However, the latter led to shorter migration times. Generic NACE conditions were then selected by means of the multivariate approach in order to obtain the highest R(s) values in a minimum amount of time. Finally, dependence of separation selectivity, resolution, as well as mobility difference on chiral selector concentration was discussed and binding constants with PA-beta-CD were estimated for the two enantiomers of one of the model compounds, suprofen in these NACE systems.

Interlaboratory study of a NACE method for the determination of R-timolol content in S-timolol maleate: assessment of uncertainty.

Analyses of statistical variance were applied to evaluate the precision and practicality of a CD-based NACE assay for R-timolol after enantiomeric separation of R- and S-timolol. Data were collected in an interlaboratory study by 11 participating laboratories located in Europe and North America. General qualitative method performance was examined using suitability descriptors (i.e. resolution, selectivity, migration times and S/N), while precision was determined by quantification of variances in the determination of R-timolol at four different impurity levels in S-timolol maleate samples. The interlaboratory trials were designed in accordance with the ISO guideline 5725-2. This allowed estimating for each sample, the different variances, i.e. between-laboratory (s2(Laboratories)), between-day (s2(Days)) and between-replicate (s2(Replicates)). The variances of repeatability (s2r) and reproducibility (s2R) were then calculated. The estimated uncertainty, derived from the precision estimates, seems to be concentration-dependent above a given threshold. This example of R-timolol illustrates how a laboratory can evaluate uncertainty in general.