Enantioseparation of aminoglutethimide and thalidomide by high performance liquid chromatography or supercritical fluid chromatography on mono-2 and mono-6-O-pentenyl-beta-cyclodextrin-based chiral stationary phases

ICH Q14-inspired novel approach to establish an SFC-based purity method for carbamazepine

The proposed ICH Q14 guideline "Analytical procedure development" describes science and risk-based approaches for development and maintenance of analytical procedures suitable for the assessment of the quality of drug substances and drug products. As a case study, the systematic development and validation of a supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC)-based purity method for carbamazepine is presented. Systematic analytical quality by design (AQbD) principles were applied using the software package Fusion QbD to the method development approach. The relationship between chromatographic parameters and the responses of interest were examined to improve the reliability of the method by understanding, reducing, and controlling sources of variability. Method performance qualification in terms of method robustness was finally carried out with the parameters that were classified as critical after method development and a validation study met previously set acceptance criteria. The developed SFC purity method for carbamazepine demonstrated readiness as a viable alternative to the official HPLC method published in the Ph.Eur. with improved peak resolution, improved peak symmetry, and faster analysis times (3 min vs. 80 min for the official method). Its inherent reliability illustrates the superiority of AQbD in method development and application for drug quality assurance.

Enantioseparation of racemic aminoglutethimide using asynchronous simulated moving bed chromatography

The separation of aminoglutethimide enantiomers by the continuous multicolumn chromatographic processes were investigated experimentally and theoretically, where the columns were packed with cellulose tris 3,5-dimethylphenyl-carbamate stationary phase (brand name Chiralcel OD) and mobile phase was a mixture of n-hexane and ethanol with monoethanolamine additive. The continuous enantioseparation processes included a synchronous shifting process (SMB) and an asynchronous shifting process (VARICOL), which allowed reducing the column number (here from six-column SMB to five-column VARICOL process). Transport-dispersive model with the consideration of both intraparticle mass transfer resistance and axial dispersion was adopted to design and optimize the operation conditions for the separation of aminoglutethimide enantiomers by SMB process and VARICOL process. According to the optimized operation conditions, experiments were carried out on VARICOL-Micro unit using five-column VARICOL process with 1/1.5/1.5/1 configuration and six-column SMB process with 1/2/2/1 configuration. Products of R-aminoglutethimide (R-AG) enantiomer and S-aminoglutethimide (S-AG) enantiomer with more than 99.0% purity were obtained continuously from extract stream and raffinate stream, respectively. Furthermore, the experiemntal data obtained from five-column VARICOL process were compared with that from six-column SMB process, the feasibility and efficiency for the separation of guaifenesin enantiomers by VARICOL processes were evaluated.

Synthesis and application of mono-2A-azido-2A-deoxyperphenylcarbamoylated beta-cyclodextrin and mono-2A-azido-2A-deoxyperacetylated beta-cyclodextrin as chiral stationary phases for high-performance liquid chromatography

Two novel chiral stationary phases (CSPs) were prepared based upon the regioselective immobilizations of beta-cyclodextrin (beta-CD) at its C2 position to the silica support. The mono-2A-azido-2A-deoxyperphenylcarbamoylated beta-cyclodextrin and mono-2A-azido-2A-deoxyperacetylated beta-cyclodextrin were synthesized by selective tosylation and azidolysis followed by perfunctionalisation. The derivatised cyclodextrins were then immobilized onto the aminised silica gel via the Staudinger reaction to provide new chiral stationary phases. Their application to high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) enantioseparation of racemic compounds was demonstrated using beta-adrenergic blockers, flavonone compounds, benzodiazepinones, antihistamines and weakly protolytic compounds, of which good separations were achieved for some racemic compounds, for instance, bendroflumethiazide (Rs 6.26), oxazepam (Rs 5.99), temazepam (Rs 2.85) and althiazide (Rs 1.13) when compared with the corresponding CSPs where the beta-CD molecule was regioselectively immobilized at the C6 position. The enantiodiscriminatory properties of these CSPs were found to be affected by the orientation of the CD cavity under reversed-phase conditions, and also by the derivitising groups of the CD. The HPLC results inferred that the mono-6A-azido-6A-deoxyperphenylcarbamoylated CD CSP (CD bonded at C6 position to silica) exhibited slightly better chiral recognition ability than mono-2A-azido-2A-deoxyperphenylcarbamoylated CD CSP under the normal-phase and reversed-phase modes on the separation of 31 different racemic compounds and drugs. On the contrary, higher chiral recognition abilities were observed on the mono-2(A)-azido-2A-deoxyperacetylated CD CSP compared to mono-6A-azido-6A-deoxyperacetylated CD CSP.

Determination of thalidomide by high performance liquid chromatography: Plasma pharmacokinetic studies in the rat

A sensitive and simple high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method was developed and validated for the determination of thalidomide in rat plasma. Chromatography was accomplished with a reversed-phase Hypersil C18 column. Mobile phase consisted of acetonitrile-10 mM ammonium acetate buffer (pH 5.50) (28:72, v/v), at a flow rate of 0.8 ml/min. Thalidomide was monitored by ultraviolet detector at 220 nm and it gave a linear response as a function of concentration over 0.02-50 microM. The limit of quantitation in rat plasma was 0.50 ng (0.02 microM plasma concentration) with an aliquot of 20 microl. Results from a 3-day validation study indicated that this method allows for simple and rapid quantitation of thalidomide with excellent accuracy and reliability. Using this validated assay, the effect of coadministered irinotecan (CPT-11) on the plasma pharmacokinetics of thalidomide in rats was determined. Coadministration of CPT-11 (intravenously, 60 mg/kg) increased the maximum plasma concentration (C(max)) and area under the plasma concentration-time curve (AUC(0-10h)) of thalidomide by 32.29 and 11.66%, respectively, as compared to the control, but none of the effect of CPT-11 was of statistical significance (P > 0.05). Concomitant CPT-11 also caused a 10.04% decrease in plasma clearance (CL) and 14.51% decrease in volume of distribution (V(d)) (P > 0.05). These results suggest that coadministered CPT-11 did not significantly alter the plasma pharmacokinetics of thalidomide in rats. Further studies are warranted to explore the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic interactions between CPT-11 and thalidomide.

Enantioselective separations by packed column subcritical and supercritical fluid chromatography

Enantioselective separations have been one of the most successful applications of supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC). Although analytical scale separations have dominated the literature, the use of SFC for preparative chiral separations is growing. Both analytical and preparative scale SFC separations seek to take advantage of the high efficiency, high throughput, and rapid method development associated with the technique. This review will cover recent developments in the application of SFC to enantioseparations.