Nonaqueous versus aqueous capillary electrophoresis for the dosage of N-butylscopolamine in various pharmaceutical formulations

Determination of scopolamine and butylscopolamine in beverages, urine and Buscopan® tablets samples using electrophoresis microchip with integrated contactless conductivity detection

The number of cases in which scopolamine (SCO) was used for both recreational and predatory purposes has increased dramatically in recent decades. Linked to this, there is a concern about obtaining SCO through thermal degradation of butylscopolamine (BSCO) - an active ingredient of Buscopan® - a drug sold without a medical prescription. In this study, mixtures containing SCO and BSCO were separated and detected on a microchip electrophoresis (ME) device with integrated capacitively coupled contactless conductivity detection (C4D) using a running buffer composed of 40 mmol L-1 of butyric acid and 25 mmol L-1 of sodium hydroxide (pH 5.0). The separation was performed within ca. 115 s with a resolution of 1.3 and separation efficiency ranging from 1.4 × 105 to 1.5 × 105 theoretical plates m-1. A detection limit of 1.1 μmol L-1 was achieved for both species and the developed method revealed satisfactory repeatability with relative standard deviation (RSD) values for forty-eight injections between 4.8 and 9.4% for peak areas and lower than 3.3% for migration times. Furthermore, inter-day precision was evaluated for sixteen injections (a sequence of four injections performed over four days), and RSD values were less than 6.6% for peak areas and 2.2% for migration times. Satisfactory recovery values (95-114%) were obtained for all evaluated beverage samples (cachaça, vodka, whiskey, beer, Coca-Cola, and grape juice) as well as for artificial urine samples (95-107%). Finally, the conversion of BSCO into SCO was observed after simple heating procedure of Buscopan® sample (not subject to medical prescription), which was successfully confirmed through analysis by capillary electrophoresis coupled to the mass spectrometry (CE-MS). Based on the reported results, the use of ME-C4D devices has demonstrated a huge potential for applications in the forensic chemistry field.

Silver Nanoparticles Application as a Colorimetric Probe for the Spectrophotometric Determination of Hyoscine Butylbromide in Pharmaceutical Formulations

BACKGROUND

Hyoscine butylbromide is used as an antispasmodic in treating peptic ulcers, gastritis, and various disorders of the gastrointestinal tract that are characterized by spasms. It has also found employment for the relief of spasmodic conditions of the bile duct and urinary tract and for the treatment of dysmenorrhea.

OBJECTIVE

In this study, the application of silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) as a colorimetric probe for the fast, selective, and simple determination of hyoscine butylbromide was described.

METHODS

The proposed method was based on the Ag NPs aggregation induced by their interaction with the cited drug. This interaction produced a color change from yellow to colorless measured at 405 nm.

RESULTS

The method linear concentration range was 0.10-50.0 µg/mL with a correlation equation (y = 0.0132 x + 0.3174), correlation coefficient of 0.9981, and quantification limits of 0.091 µg/mL. A thorough investigation was done to validate the method's analytical performance, and the findings were satisfactory. With great accuracy and precision, this approach was used to identify the medication in pharmaceutical tablet samples with recovery percentages ranging from 96.20 to 98.10%.

CONCLUSIONS

Since there are no critical reaction conditions or solvent extraction involved in the described method, it is distinguished by its simplicity. The results were quite consistent with those attained using the approved standard method.

HIGHLIGHTS

Simple, fast, and sensitive colorimetric probe developed for determination of hyoscine butylbromide in pharmaceutical formulations.

LC-MS/MS approach for simultaneous assessment of hyoscine N-butyl bromide and ketoprofen in biological fluids and pharmaceuticals

The mixture of hyoscine N-butyl bromide (HBB) and ketoprofen (KTP) is commonly used for the handling of abdominal spasms and pain relief. There are two challenges that restrict the simultaneous assessment of HBB and KTP in biological fluids and pharmaceuticals. The first issue is the difficulty of elution of HBB and the second one is the presence of KTP as a racemic mixture in all pharmaceutical formulations, which obscures its appearance as a single peak. An ultrasensitive and highly efficient liquid chromatography-mass/mass spectrometric (LC-MS/MS) method is designed and validated for the first concurrent assessment of HBB and KTP in spiked human serum and urine, and pharmaceutical formulations. The estimated linearity ranges for HBB and KTP were respectively, 0.5-500 and 0.05-500 ng/ml, with excellent correlation coefficients. Validation results showed that the value of relative standard deviations were <2% for HBB and KTP. The mean extraction recoveries for HBB and KTP were, respectively, 91.04 and 97.83% in Spasmofen® ampoules; 95.89 and 97.00% in spiked serum; and 97.31 and 95.63% in spiked urine. The presented innovative chromatographic approach was utilized for the measurement of trace amounts of coexisting pharmaceuticals in pharmacokinetics studies and routine therapeutic medication monitoring.

Comparative study of four greenness assessment tools for selection of greenest analytical method for assay of hyoscine N-butyl bromide

Several assessment tools were recently introduced for the evaluation of the greenness of analytical methods. Each tool has advantages, disadvantages, and a unique assessment protocol. The final results obtained from each assessment tool may lead to a dissimilar conclusion about the selection of the greenest method, which makes the decision confusing as to which an assessment tool relies on. Accordingly, in this comparative case study, four greenness assessment tools-National Environmental Methods Index (NEMI), Eco-Scale Assessment (ESA), Green Analytical Procedure Index (GAPI), and Analytical GREEnness metric (AGREE)-were tested to evaluate 16 chromatographic methods described in the literature for the assessment of the commonly used antispasmodic drug Hyoscine N-butyl bromide (HNBB). The importance of applying more than one assessment tool when evaluating the greenness of analytical methods is explained in this study. Despite NEMI tool simplicity, it was the least effective in providing information about the analytical method as 14 out of 16 methods had the same NEMI pictogram. ESA and AGREE provided reliable numerical assessments that differed in their total scores whereas the total scores were out of 100 and 1 for each, respectively. AGREE has the merits over ESA with respect to automation and highlighting the weakest points in analytical techniques that need further improvements in terms of greenness. GAPI and AGREE provide fully descriptive three-colored pictograms. The main disadvantage of GAPI is complexity compared to NEMI and ESA. AGREE has the merits of simplicity and automation over GAPI. Based on the results, recommendations are made for ESA, GAPI, and AGREE tools, which provide reliable and precise results about the greenness of the method. Planning for the greenness of analytical methods should be assured before practical trials in a laboratory for reduction of chemical hazards released into the environment. Moreover, inclusion of the evaluation of greenness of analytical methods in method validation protocols is strongly recommended.

Analytical review: analytical techniques for hyoscine N butyl bromide

It is not a simple task to develop techniques for analyzing tricyclic quaternary ammonium alkaloids (TCQAAs) because of the relative polarity and alkalinity of the latter.

Flow Injection-Chemiluminescence Method for Determination of Hyoscine Butylbromide Using Silver(III) as Oxidizing Agent

Diperiodatoargentate(III) (DPA)/silver(III) complex, [Ag(HIO₆)₂]^5-, in sulfuric acid medium has been used to determine hyoscine butylbromide (HBB) by flow injection (FI) coupled with chemiluminescence (CL) detector. A linear standard curve between the CL intensity and concentration range from 0.005 to 20 mg L^-1 was obtained. The determination coefficient (R²), limit of detection (3s × blank), relative standard deviation (RSD) for 0.5 mg L^-1 HBB and analytical throughput were 0.9992 (n = 8), 5 × 10^-4 mg L^-1, 1.5% (n = 10) and 160 injections h^-1, respectively. The developed method was applied for the determination of HBB in pharmaceutical formulations with recoveries from 92 ± 4 to 108 ± 3%. For comparison, a spectrophotometric method was used and the results obtained by both methods were in good agreement at a 95% confidence level. The effect of key chemical and physical variables (reagent concentration, flow rate, sample volume, PMT voltage) and interfering species (pharmaceutical excipients and inorganic ions) on the determination of HBB was examined. The possible CL mechanism of HBB on silver(III) complex in sulfuric acid medium was also discussed in brief.

Simultaneous determination of atropine, anisodamine, and scopolamine in plant extract by nonaqueous capillary electrophoresis coupled with electrochemiluminescence and electrochemistry dual detection

A rapid and simple method was demonstrated for the analysis of atropine, anisodamine, and scopolamine by nonaqueous capillary electrophoresis (NACE) coupled with electrochemiluminescence (ECL) and electrochemistry (EC) dual detection. The mixture of acetonitrile (ACN) and 2-propanol containing 1M acetic acid (HAc), 20mM sodium acetate (NaAc), and 2.5mM tetrabutylammonium perchlorate (TBAP) was used as the electrophoretic buffer. Although a short capillary of 18cm was used, the decoupler was not needed and the separation efficiency was good. The linear ranges of atropine, anisodamine, and scopolamine were 0.5-50, 5-2000, and 50-2000microM, respectively. For six replicate measurements of 100microM scopolamine, 15microM atropine, and 200microM anisodamine, the RSDs of ECL intensity, EC current, and migration time were less than 3.6%, 4.5%, and 0.3%, respectively. In addition, because the organic buffer was used, the working electrode (Pt) was not easily fouled and did not need reactivation. The method was also applied for the determination of these three alkaloids in Flos daturae extract.

Spectrophotometric determination of hyoscine butylbromide and famciclovir in pure form and in pharmaceutical formulations

A simple, rapid, and extractive spectrophotometric method was developed for the determination of hyoscine butylbromide (HBB) and famciclovir (FCV) in pure and pharmaceutical formulations. These methods are based on the formation of yellow ion-pair complexes between the basic nitrogen of the drug and four sulphonphthalein acid dyes, namely; bromocresol green (BCG), bromothymol blue (BTB), bromocresol purple (BCP) and bromophenol blue (BPB) in phthalate buffer of pH range (3.0-3.5). The formed complexes were extracted with chloroform and measured at 420, 412, 409 and 415nm for HBB and at 418, 412, 407 and 414nm for FCV using BCG, BTB, BCP and BPB, respectively. The analytical parameters and their effects on the reported systems are investigated. Beer's law was obeyed in the range 1.0-20microgmL(-1) with correlation coefficient (n=6)> or =0.9997. The molar absorptivity, Sandell sensitivity, detection and quantification limits were also calculated. The composition of the ion pairs was found 1:1 by Job's method in all cases and the conditional stability constant (Kf) of the complexes have been calculated. The free energy changes (DeltaG) were determined for all complexes formed. The proposed methods have been applied successfully for the analysis of the studied drugs in pure and pharmaceutical formulations with percentage recoveries ranges from 99.84 to 100.26. The results were in good agreement with those obtained by the official methods.

Nonaqueous capillary electrophoresis in pharmaceutical analysis

This review presents different solvents and electrolytes commonly used as BGEs in NACE for the analysis of pharmaceutical compounds. Most NACE applications carried out since 1998 for the analysis of compounds of pharmaceutical interest are presented in four tables: (i) analysis of drugs and related substances, (ii) analysis of chiral substances, (iii) analysis of phytochemical extracts and (iv) analysis of drugs in biological fluids. These selected examples are used to illustrate the interest in NACE versus conventional aqueous CE.

Separation of four isomeric tropane alkaloids from Schizanthus grahamii by non-aqueous capillary electrophoresis

The potential of non-aqueous capillary electrophoresis was investigated for the separation of four isomeric tropane alkaloids, namely 3alpha-senecioyloxy-7beta-hydroxytropane, 3alpha-hydroxy-7beta-senecioyloxytropane, 3alpha-hydroxy-7beta-angeloyloxytropane and 3alpha-hydroxy-7beta-tigloyloxytropane extracted from Schizanthus grahamii. The composition of the organic solvent and the nature of the electrolyte were of considerable importance with respect to selectivity. Different organic solvents (i.e. methanol, ethanol, acetonitrile, tetrahydrofuran) and mixtures thereof were investigated. Moreover, different electrolytes such as formate, acetate and trifluoroacetate were tested. After optimisation, an electrolyte consisting of 1 M trifluoroacetic acid and 25 mM ammonium trifluoroacetate in methanol:ethanol (40:60, v:v) was selected. It provided an efficient separation of the four positional isomers as well as a good repeatability of migration time (RSD < 0.2%). The method was successfully used with electrospray MS to confirm the molecular mass of the tropane alkaloids.

Separation and determination of phospholipids in plant seeds by nonaqueous capillary electrophoresis

A method has been developed for the separation and determination of phospholipids by nonaqueous capillary electrophoresis in a separation medium of acetonitrile-2-proponol (3:2, v/v), 0.3% acetic acid and 60 mM ammonium acetate. To optimize the separation conditions, the composition of separation medium including alcohols, acetic acid, n-hexane and ammonium acetate was studied. The solvation interaction and ion-dipole interaction were also investigated. The contents of phospholipids in soybean, sunflower, peanut, apricot kernel, filbert and walnut were determined by the recommended method. The results obtained by the nonaqueous capillary electrophoreses were in good agreement with those determined by micellar electrokinetic chromatography.

Separation and determination of active components in Radix Salviae miltiorrhizae and its medicinal preparations by nonaqueous capillary electrophoresis

A nonaqueous capillary electrophoresis (NACE) method was developed for simultaneous assay of three bioactive components (1: cryptotanshinone; 2: tanshinone IIA, and 3: tanshinone I) in Radix Salviae miltiorrhizae and in its herbal preparations for the first time. After optimization of separation conditions, a buffer of 250 mmol L(-1) ammonium acetate containing 30% acetonitrile and 1.0% acetic acid (V:V) in methanol was selected for separating the three analytes, but baseline separation of tanshinon I and tanshinone IIA was not obtained. Therefore second-order derivative electropherograms were applied for resolving overlapping peaks. Regression equations revealed good linear relationships (correlation coefficients 0.9943-0.9991) between peak heights in second-order derivative electropherograms and concentrations of the three analytes. The relative standard deviations (RSD) of the migration times and the peak height of the three constituents were in the range of 0.81 -0.88% and 0.34-1.13% (intra-day), 1.57-1.86% and 3.05-5.52% (inter-day), respectively. The recoveries of three constituents ranged from 90.2 to 108.5%. The results indicated that baseline separation of the analytes was sometimes hard to obtain and second-order derivative electropherograms were applicable for the resolving and analysis of overlapping peaks.

Development and robustness testing of a nonaqueous capillary electrophoresis method for the analysis of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs

Nine non steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs were simultaneously separated by nonaqueous capillary electrophoresis with a methanol-acetonitrile (40:60, v/v) mixture containing 20 mM ammonium acetate. The effect of solvent composition, electrolyte nature and concentration on the electrophoretic behavior of the selected drugs was systematically studied. Investigated electrolytes were ammonium, lithium and sodium acetate. Modification of the solvent and/or the electrolyte composition was found to alter the migration order of the pharmaceutical drugs. Finally, to assess method robustness, three sensitive electrophoretic parameters as well as their interactions were evaluated using a full factorial design at two levels.