Separation of benzodiazepines on a new carbohydrate-based chiral stationary phase for HPLC

Benzodiazepines: sample preparation and HPLC methods for their determination in biological samples

Benzodiazepines (BDZs) belong to a group of substances known for their sedative, antidepressive, muscle relaxant, tranquilizer, hypnotic and anticonvulsant properties. Their determination in biological fluids is essential in clinical assays as well as in forensics and toxicological studies. Researchers focus on the development of rapid, accurate, precise and sensitive methods for the determination of BDZs and their metabolites. A large number of analytical methods using different techniques have been reported, but none can be considered as the method of choice. BDZs are usually present at trace levels (microgram or nanogram per milliliter) in a complex biological matrix and the potentially interfering compounds must be isolated by various extraction techniques before analysis. An extended and comprehensive review is presented herein, focusing on sample preparation (pretreatment and extraction) and HPLC conditions applied by different authors. These methods enable bioanalysts to achieve detection limits down to 1-2 ng/ml using UV/diode array detection, readily available in most laboratories, and better than 1 ng/ml using electron capture detection, which is lower than that obtained using a nitrogen phosphorus detector. MS interfaced with electrospray ionization offered a similar sensitivity, while negative chemical ionization MS or sonic spray ionization MS provided sensitivity down to 0.1 ng/ml.

Determination of the enantiomerization energy barrier of some 3-hydroxy-1,4-benzodiazepine drugs by supercritical fluid chromatography

The first-order kinetic equation for irreversible reactions was used to determine the enantiomerization barrier of some of 3-hydroxy-1,4-benzodiazepine enantiomers by supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC). The racemates of lorazepam, oxazepam and temazepam were separated by SFC on chiral (R,R)-Whelk-O1 column with supercritical carbon dioxide containing 12.5% methanol and 0.5% diethylamine as a mobile phase. Peak areas of enantiomers prior to (A(A0), A(B0)) and after the separation (A(A), A(B)), used for calculation of the enantiomerization barrier, were determined by computer-assisted peak deconvolution of peak clusters from the chromatograms. It was demonstrated for the first time that using a model for a four-peak cluster produces height precise results, and most closely approximates the published results. The kinetic equation for irreversible reactions was used to determine apparent enantiomerization rate constants. The dependence of the apparent enatiomerization barrier (deltaG(app)(A-->B), deltaG(app)(B-->A)) on temperature was used to determine apparent activation enthalpy (deltaH(app)(R-->S), deltaH(app)(S-->R)) and entropy (deltaS(app)(R-->S), deltaS(app)(S-->R)) for all studied benzodiazepines.