Chemical and analytical characterization of related organic impurities in drugs.

A system is proposed for the classification of related organic impurities in drugs and drug products including among others (separated and non-separated) intermediates, various kinds of by-products, among them products of different side reactions, epimeric/diastereomeric, enantiomeric impurities, impurities in natural products, and finally degradation products. Examples are taken mainly from the author's own experience and from among the named impurities in the European Pharmacopoeia with focus on impurities in hydrocortisone, prednisolone, enalapril maleate, lisinopril, ethynodiol diacetate, pipecuronium bromide, cimetidine, and ethynylsteroids. The methodological aspects of impurity profiling from the detection to the identification/structure elucidation and quantitative determination of impurities are briefly summarized.

[Analysis of steroids. Part 40. Isolation and identification of unusual impurities in ethynodiol diacetate]. / Adatok a szteránvázas vegyületek analitikájához 40. Etinodiol-diacetát szokatlan szennyezéseinek izolálása és szerkezetük felderítése.

In the course of the estimation of the impurity profile of ethynodiol diacetate, in addition to common impurities such as norethisterone acetate, ethynodiol-3-acetate and alpha-ethynodiol diacetate, two unknown impurities were detected by analytical reversed phase HPLC (C-18 silica and 80% aq. methanol as the eluent) and isolated by normal phase preparative HPLC (silica and 98:2 mixture of hexane and 2-propanol as the eluent). The 1H- and 13C-NMR spectra of the isolated impurities revealed that their structures could be characterized as the E and Z isomers of an analogue of EDDA containing "trimerised acetyl" group at the 17-hydroxy group (structures 4 and 4a). These structures were in good agreement with the extended UV spectra of the impurities and the mass spectra with the m/z 438 peak which can be derived from 4 and 4a by the loss of ketene.