Isolation of erythromycins and related substances from fermentation residues of streptomyces erythreus by high-performance liquid chromatography on silica gel

The determination of water in erythromycin by Karl Fischer titration

Important interlaboratory variation was obtained for the water content of erythromycin samples as determined by the Karl Fischer method. It is demonstrated that the variation is related to the type of reagents used. In poorly buffered systems erythromycin enol ether and water are formed by acid degradation of erythromycin. However, when an appropriate solvent is used, accurate titration of water in erythromycin is possible. A 10% m/v solution of imidazole in methanol is preferred to pyridine or a mixture of pyridine and methanol for it has a good buffer capacity, it lacks the unpleasant odour of pyridine and it allows a high titration speed.

Determination of erythromycin and related substances in commercial samples using liquid chromatography/ion trap mass spectrometry

A sensitive, precise and accurate quantitative liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS) method for the measurement of erythromycin A (EA) and related substances in commercial samples was developed and validated. The samples were chromatographed on a reversed-phase column with a polar endcapping and analyzed by ion trap tandem mass spectrometry in the multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) mode using positive electrospray ionization. The method showed high recovery (>or=98.82%), high sensitivity (lower limit of quantitation of 0.25 ng/mL for EA and less than 7.3 ng/mL for the related substances) and high precision (<or=0.52%) as well as excellent linearity (r(2)>or=0.991) with a run time of only 13 min. The method was successfully applied to the determination of EA and related substances in commercial samples. Moreover, using the advanced data-dependent acquisition capability of the ion trap software two new unexpected EA related substances could be detected and possible structures for these substances were postulated.

Development of an enhanced separation of erythromycin and its related substances by liquid chromatography

A new HPLC-UV method for the determination of the impurity profile of erythromycin is developed. In contrast to the liquid chromatography described in the European Pharmacopoeia the analysis could be performed at a temperature of 25 degrees C. Erythromycin samples were analysed on an endcapped RP phase with cyanopropyl groups on the surface using gradient elution with 32 mM potassium phosphate buffer pH 8.0 and acetonitrile/methanol (75:25). The aforementioned method shows clear improvements compared to the actual method of the European Pharmacopoeia, which is less selective and sensitive.

Analysis of macrolide antibiotics

The following macrolide antibiotics have been covered in this review: erythromycin and its related substances, azithromycin, clarithromycin, dirithromycin, roxithromycin, flurithromycin, josamycin, rokitamycin, kitasamycin, mycinamycin, mirosamycin, oleandomycin, rosaramicin, spiramycin and tylosin. The application of various thin-layer chromatography, paper chromatography, gas chromatography, high-performance liquid chromatography and capillary zone electrophoresis procedures for their analysis are described. These techniques have been applied to the separation and quantitative analysis of the macrolides in fermentation media, purity assessment of raw materials, assay of pharmaceutical dosage forms and the measurement of clinically useful macrolide antibiotics in biological samples such as blood, plasma, serum, urine and tissues. Data relating to the chromatographic behaviour of some macrolide antibiotics as well as the various detection methods used, such as bioautography, UV spectrophotometry, fluorometry, electrochemical detection, chemiluminescence and mass spectrometry techniques are also included.

Determination of erythromycin A in salmon tissue by liquid chromatography with ion-spray mass spectrometry

A reverse-phase liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC/MS) method, incorporating gradient elution, is described for the characterization of residual erythromycin A and its metabolites in salmon tissue. The method uses ion-spray, a mild atmospheric pressure ionization technique which provides an abundant protonated molecule well suited for selected ion monitoring experiments. Tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) using collision-induced dissociation was used to provide structural information. The LC/MS method was tested for the analysis of salmon tissue spiked with erythromycin A at levels between 0.01 and 1 p.p.m. A simple extraction and clean-up procedure, slightly modified from that described by Takatsuki et al. (J. Assoc. Off. Anal. Chem. 70, 708 (1987)), was used in this work. Using selected ion and selected reaction monitoring techniques, the LC/MS and LC/MS/MS methods provided detection limits of < 10 and 50 ng g-1, respectively. Confirmatory full-scan LC/MS and LC/MS/MS spectra were obtained at the 0.5 and 1 microgram g-1 levels, respectively. Using a combination of these techniques, the presence of residual erythromycin A was confirmed in the tissue of fish administered medicated feed containing the antibiotic. In addition, several metabolites and degradation products of erythromycin A, including anhydro-erythromycin and N-demethyl-erythromycin, were detected and where possible confirmed by comparison with authentic compounds. Although this analytical method has been shown to afford the necessary sensitivity and precision, application of these techniques to high-throughput quantitative analyses will require development of an improved clean-up procedure and preferably also of a suitable surrogate internal standard.

Analysis of erythromycin estolate by liquid chromatography

A method is described for the determination of erythromycin estolate by liquid chromatography. A C18 reversed-phase column (25 x 0.46 cm i.d.) was used with acetonitrile-tetrabutylammonium sulphate (pH 6.5, 0.2 M)-phosphate buffer (pH 6.5, 0.2 M)-water [x:5:5:(90-x), v/v/v/v] as mobile phase. The proportion of acetonitrile (x) has to be adapted to the type of stationary phase used. For RSil C18 LL 42.5% (v/v) was used. The column was heated at 35 degrees C, the flow rate was 1.5 ml min-1 and UV detection was performed at 215 nm. The main component, erythromycin A propionate, was separated from all other components which were present in commercial samples. The impurities most frequently observed were the propionate ester of erythromycin C and the amide N-propionyl-N-demethyl-erythromycin A. Erythromycin A was shown to be present in specialties.

Determination of erythromycin ethylsuccinate by liquid chromatography

A method is described for the determination of erythromycin ethylsuccinate by liquid chromatography. A C18 reversed-phase column (25 cm x 4.6 mm I.D.) was used with acetonitrile-0.2 M tetrabutylammonium sulphate (pH 6.5)-0.2 M phosphate buffer (pH 6.5)-water [x:5:5:(90-x)] as mobile phase. The proportion of acetonitrile (x) has to be adapted to the type of stationary phase used. For RSil C18 LL, 42.5% was used. The column was heated at 35 degrees C, the flow-rate was 1.5 ml/min and UV detection was performed at 215 nm. The main component, erythromycin A ethylsuccinate, was separated from all other components which were present in commercial samples. The main impurities were erythromycin A and the ethylsuccinate esters of erythromycin B and C. The amide N-ethylsuccinyl-N-demethylerythromycin A was shown to be present in all the samples examined. The method was successfully applied to the analysis of specialities.

Isolation of doxycycline, 6-epidoxycycline and 2-acetyl-2- decarboxamidometacycline from commercial metacycline by preparative column liquid chromatography on silica gel

Isolation of doxycycline, 6-epidoxycycline and 2-acetyl-2-decaboxamidometacycline from commercial metacycline was achieved by preparative column liquid chromatography on silica gel, previously impregnated with edetate (EDTA). Careful control of the pH of EDTA allowed fine tuning of the separation. The mobile phases were composed of dichloromethane, methanol and .1 mM EDTA at pH 9.0 or 6.0. Structures were confirmed with nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. The presence of doxycycline and its 6-epimer in commercial metacycline has not previously been described. The presence of the 2-acetyl derivative was not surprising since analogous 2-acetyl derivatives have been identified in other tetracyclines.

Quantitative analysis of erythromycin by reversed-phase liquid chromatography using column-switching

A column-switching technique is described for LC of erythromycin. The method allows, in about 1 h, the separation of erythromycin A from all its known potential impurities, except erythromycin D, which is a minor impurity. The switching technique combines two columns (7.5 cm x 4.6 mm and 25.0 cm x 4.6 mm) both packed with RSil C 18 LL 10 microns. The mobile phase is acetonitrile-tetrabutylammonium sulphate (0.2 M, pH 6.0)-ammonium phosphate buffer (0.2 M, pH 6.0)-water (24:5:5:66, v/v/v/v). Temperature was 35 degrees C, flow rate was 1.5 ml min-1, detection was by UV at 210 nm. Results for a number of commercial samples of various origin are reported.

Thin-layer chromatographic study of the metabolites of erythromycins in the Wistar rat

The metabolites of erythromycin A, anhydroerythromycin A, N-demethylerythromycin A and erythromycin B in the Wistar rat were studied by thin-layer chromatography. In some experiments germ-free rats, rats with a cannulated bile duct and a gastrectomized rat were used. The erythromycins examined were shown to undergo two principal changes, N-demethylation and acid-catalysed degradation. It was demonstrated that the stomach and the liver are not the sole sites of acid degradation and demethylation of erythromycins, respectively. Erythromycin A gives three principal metabolites, anhydroerythromycin A, anhydro-N-demethylerythromycin A and N-demethylerythromycin A, and erythromycin A enol ether and N-demethylerythromycin A enol ether are present to a minor extent. 5-O-Desosaminylerythronolide A was also identified, suggesting the presence of an erythromycin glycosidase.

Optimization of the separation of erythromycin and related substances by high-performance liquid chromatography

An improved high-performance liquid chromatographic method for analysis of erythromycin is described. The separation can be performed under mild conditions of pH (6.5) and temperature (35 degrees C) on C8 and C18 silica-based reversed-phase materials of different origins. The mobile phase, with a flow-rate of 1.5 ml/min, contained various amounts of acetonitrile (25-40%, v/v), 5% (v/v) 0.2 M ammonium phosphate buffer pH 6.5, 20% (v/v) 0.2 M tetramethylammonium phosphate and water. UV detection at 215 nm allows quantitation of erythromycins A, B and C, N-demethylerythromycin A, erythromycin A enol ether and anhydroerythromycin A. The column history plays a major role, older columns often giving better separations.