Validated RP-HPLC method for simultaneous determination and quantification of chlorpheniramine maleate, paracetamol and caffeine in tablet formulation

Development of Response Surface Approach for Determination of Paracetamol, Chlorpheniramine Maleate, Caffeine and Ascorbic Acid by Green HPLC Method: A Desirability-Based Optimization

Design of experiment is an efficient and cost-effective tool to optimize the chromatographic separation of a multicomponent mixture. The central composite design was conducted to develop and optimize a green high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method for simultaneous quantitation of a quaternary mixture of paracetamol, chlorpheniramine maleate, caffeine and ascorbic acid in their pharmaceutical dosage form as well as the determination of their dissolution profile. A five-level three-factor model was performed to investigate the effect of mobile phase composition, pH and flow rate on enhanced resolution and short run time. Analysis was performed using a Kinitex EVO C18 column and a mobile phase composed of methanol: 0.02 M phosphate buffer pH 3.3 (34:66, v/v) at 1.0 mL/min using photodiode array detection. Optimum chromatographic separation was achieved in <6 min with a desirability of 0.999. Linearity was achieved over a range of 1.00-300.00, 1.00-50.00, 2.00-50.00 and 2.00-100.00 μg/mL for paracetamol, chlorpheniramine maleate, caffeine and ascorbic acid, respectively, with a limit of detection (<0.1 μg/mL). The greenness profile was evaluated using the analytical eco-scale and Analytical GREEnness Metric Approach with values of 81 and 0.77, respectively.

High performance liquid chromatographic method optimized by Box-Behnken design model to determine caffeine in pharmaceutical preparations and urine samples

A UV-HPLC method optimized by Box-Behnken design model was developed to determine caffeine in pharmaceutical preparations and urine samples. The chromatographic conditions followed were mobile phase: methanol/water/ citrate buffer (pH 4.6) (40:25:35, v/v/v),AcclaimTMDionex C18 column (ODS 100A˚, 5 µm; 4.6 × 250 mm),flow rate (0.9 mL min-1), column temperature (30 °C) and UV-detection wavelength (204 nm). The chromatographic variables: pH (A), % methanol fraction (B), flow rate(C) and column temperature (D) were optimized at 50 μg mL-1caffeine using BBD model. The chromatogram resulted in the asymmetry factor (1.23), theoretical plate 13,786 and retention time (5.79 min). The proposed HPLC method's greenness point was assessed byAnalytical Eco-scale and found to be 78 (as per guidelines, ranked as excellent). The linearity was ranged from2.0 to 70 µg mL-1 with coefficient of correlation (r = 0.999) and detection limit of 0.19 µg mL-1. The proposedmethod was developed successfully and applied for the assay of active caffeine in pharmaceutical preparations and urine samples. The % recovery obtained by both (proposed and reference) methods ranged from 99.98 to 100.05 % followed the compliance (100 ± 2 %) with Canadian Health Protection regulatory guidelines. The performance of the proposed method was compared with published papers and found to be acceptable and superior. The proposed method was quite effective as the reference method, and hence can be used as an alternative method for the assay of active caffeine in pharmaceutical preparations and urine samples.

Enhanced fluorimetric detection of diphenylpyraline HCl using micelle and cyclodextrin mediated approach: Spectrofluorimetric and micellar liquid chromatographic application for either single or combined formulation with caffeine and paracetamol

Highly sensitive micellar spectrofluorimetric method (Method I) has been developed and validated for the determination of diphenylpyraline HCl in pharmaceutical tablets and in plasma. Sodium dodecyl sulfate improves the intensity of fluorescence of diphenylpyraline at 286 nm at pH 5 that allow its determination in plasma at nano-level. the mean percent recovery ± S.D was 99.719 ± 0.338 in plasma. In addition, Green cyclodextrin-modified micellar liquid chromatographic method (Method II) has been developed and validated for simultaneous determination of diphenylpyraline, paracetamol and caffeine using cyclodextrin micellar mobile phase consisted of 30 mM Brij*35, 0.5 mM hydroxypropyl β-cyclodextrin and phosphate buffer pH 4: MeOH (95:5, %v/v) that allows their simultaneous determination with enhanced spectrofluorimetric detection of diphenylpyraline. Method II was effectively applied for the simultaneous determination of diphenylpyraline, paracetamol and caffeine in a ternary laboratory prepared mixture which contained all possible excipients with mean percent recoveries ± S.D of 100.176 ± 1.008, 101.166 ± 0.415 and 100.708 ± 1.836, respectively. Linearity range for Method I was 0.1-1 μg. mL^-1 for diphenylpyraline and for Method II was 0.3-50, 25-350, and 0.5-50 for caffeine, paracetamol and diphenylpyraline, respectively. Method I was also applied in spiked human plasma with linearity range 0.2-0.5 μg. mL^-1. The methods are verified to have excellent greenness.

A Simple Stability-Indicating UPLC Method for the Concurrent Assessment of Paracetamol and Caffeine in Pharmaceutical Formulations

A fixed-dose combination of paracetamol (PCM) and caffeine (CAF) tablets/capsules is the most frequently used over-the-counter medicine for fever and headache. In this paper, a simple, reliable, sensitive, rapid, and stability-indicating ultra-performance liquid chromatography (UPLC) analytical method was proposed for simultaneously assessing PCM and CAF in pharmaceutical formulations. The UPLC method was developed on an Acquity UPLC® CSHTM C18 column, and the column oven temperature was maintained at 35 ± 5 °C with isocratic elution by using a solution of methanol and water (30:70, v/v). The maximum absorbance of PCM and CAF was observed at 272.5 nm. The flow rate was 0.2 mL/min, and the injection volume was 1 µL, with the total run time of 2 min for the separation of PCM and CAF. The proposed UPLC method was validated according to the ICH guidelines, and it demonstrated excellent linearity, with correlation coefficients of 0.9995 and 0.9999 over the concentration ranges of 40–400 and 7–70 ng/mL for PCM and CAF, respectively. The mean retention times of 0.82 ± 0.0 and 1.16 ± 0.02 were observed for PCM and CAF, respectively. The limits of detection and quantification were 16.62 and 3.86 for PCM, respectively, and 50.37 and 11.70 for CAF, respectively. PCM and CAF were subjected to acidic, alkali, oxidative, phytochemical, dry-heat, and wet-heat degradation. The method was found to well separate the analytes’ peaks from degradation peaks, with no alterations in retention times. The proposed method is linear, precise, accurate, specific, and robust, and it can indicate stability and be used for the quantitative assessment of pharmaceutical formulations comprising PCM and CAF within a short period of time.

Enhanced Acetaminophen Electrochemical Sensing Based on Nitrogen-Doped Graphene

Because of the widespread acetaminophen usage and the danger of harmful overdosing effects, developing appropriate procedures for its quantitative and qualitative assay has always been an intriguing and fascinating problem. A quick, inexpensive, and environmentally friendly approach based on direct voltage anodic graphite rod exfoliation in the presence of inorganic salt aqueous solution ((NH₄)₂SO₄-0.3 M) has been established for the preparation of nitrogen-doped graphene (exf-NGr). The XRD analysis shows that the working material appears as a mixture of few (76.43%) and multi-layers (23.57%) of N-doped graphenes. From XPS, the C/O ratio was calculated to be 0.39, indicating a significant number of structural defects and the existence of multiple oxygen-containing groups at the surface of graphene sheets caused by heteroatom doping. Furthermore, the electrochemical performances of glassy carbon electrodes (GCEs) modified with exf-NGr for acetaminophen (AMP) detection and quantification have been assessed. The exf-NGr/GCE-modified electrode shows excellent reproducibility, stability, and anti-interfering characteristics with improved electrocatalytic activity over a wide detection range (0.1-100 µM), with a low limit for AMP detection (LOD = 3.03 nM). In addition, the developed sensor has been successfully applied in real sample analysis for the AMP quantification from different commercially available pharmaceutical formulations.

Quality by Design Approach for a Multicomponent Quantification Using HPLC-PDA and HPLC-MS: Application to Dosage Form and Biological Body Fluids

A multicomponent pharmaceutical that contains loratadine, paracetamol, and pseudoephedrine was quantified using HPLC-PDA. The three analytes were well-separated and quantified in the dosage form on a C-18 column using a gradient mobile phase. A quality by design strategy was followed to achieve the challenging separation. Screening and optimization steps were carried out to investigate the effect of many factors on the studied responses with a minimum number of runs. The ANOVA of the factorial model showed that % acetonitrile (factor A), flow rate (factor B), and pH (factor C) were significant. The detection of the analytes’ peaks was carried out using a PDA detector at 248nm for loratadine and paracetamol, and 214 nm for pseudoephedrine. The second method was SPE-HPLC-MS, where the three analytes and desloratadine, the active metabolite of loratadine, were quantified in spiked plasma and urine, using betamethasone valerate as an internal standard. The recovery of the analytes from body fluids was above 96%, and the LOQ was below 0.5 ng/mL. The validation of the developed HPLC-PDA method was achieved as per ICH guidelines, whereas the HPLC-MS method was validated according to FDA guidelines for bioanalytical method validation. The results were compared with the reported method, and no significant differences were found.

Non-Destructive Analysis of Chlorpheniramine Maleate Tablets and Granules by Chemometrics-Assisted Attenuated Total Reflectance Infrared Spectroscopy

Non-destructive analysis of chlorpheniramine maleate (CPM), pharmaceutical tablets, and granules was conducted by chemometrics-assisted attenuated total reflectance infrared spectroscopy (ATR-IR). For tablets, an optimum PLSR model with eight latent factors was obtained from area-normalized and standard normal variate (SNV) pretreated ATR-IR spectral data with correlation coefficients (R²) of calibration and cross-validation of 0.9716 and 0.9602, respectively. The model capability for the 42 test set samples was proven with R² between the reference and model prediction values of 0.9632, and a root-mean-square error of prediction (RMSEP) of 1.7786. The successive PLSR model for granules was constructed from SNV and first derivative pretreated ATR-IR spectral data with two latent factors and correlation coefficients (R²) of calibration and cross-validation of 0.9577 and 0.9450, respectively.

High performance thin layer chromatography (HPTLC) method development and validation for the simultaneous determination of paracetamol, caffeine, chlorpheniramine and phenylepherine in tablet formulation

A rapid, selective, and precise high performance thin layer chromatographic method was developed and validated for the simultaneous analysis of paracetamol, caffeine, phenylephrine and chlorpheniramine in tablets. The chromatographic analysis was carried out on glass plates pre-coated with silica gel 60 F254 as a stationary phase. The optimized mobile phase was methanol : n-butanol : toluene : acetic acid (8:6:4:0.2 v/v). TLC chamber of 10 × 20 cm was used with saturation time of 15 min. The retardation factor (RF) for chlorpheniramine, phenylephrine, caffeine and paracetamol was found to be 0.15 ± 0.02, 0.29 ± 0.02, 0.50 ± 0.02, 0.68 ± 0.02 respectively. Detection was carried out at 212 nm. Validation study was done following ICH Q2 (R1) guideline. The regression data for the calibration plots showed good linear relationship with R 2 = 0.997 over the concentration range of 300–1,500 ng band−1 for caffeine, R 2 = 0.996 over the concentration range of 100–500 ng band−1 for phenylephrine, R 2 = 0.996 over the concentration range of 200–600 ng band−1 for chlorpheniramine, R 2 = 0.998 over the concentration range of 400–2,400 ng band−1 for paracetamol. The method was validated for precision, accuracy and recovery. Minimum detectable amounts were found to be 304.9 ng band−1, 87.88 ng band−1, 117.18 ng band−1 and 143.06 ng band−1 for caffeine, phenylephrine, chlorpheniramine, and paracetamol respectively while the limit of quantification was found to be 923.95 ng band−1, 266.32 ng band−1, 355.11 ng band−1, and 433.53 ng band−1 in the same order. The method was successfully applied to analyze two marketed tablets in a selective and reproducible manner.

Evaluating the quality consistency of Keteling capsules by three-dimensional quantum fingerprints and HPLC fingerprint

Keteling capsules (KCs), as a kind of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), have been widely used in curing cough and relieving asthma. However, the complicated compositions make it challenging to evaluate their quality consistency by common methods. Herein, we explored comprehensive and efficient strategies by combining the multiple techniques to monitor and assess the characteristics of KCs. We employed the fingerprints and corresponding quantum fingerprints by fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), ultraviolet (UV), and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The antioxidant activity profiles were also studied combined with the result of three-dimensional quantum fingerprints and showed a good correlation with the internal structure and physical-chemical state. Furthermore, the 17 samples were separated and identified simultaneously by HPLC quantitative fingerprint, of which four active ingredients (chlorogenic acid, p-coumaric acid, vitexin and isovitexin) were quantitatively determined. The 17 samples were successfully classified into different grades by the systematically quantified fingerprint method (SQFM) and the quality of the samples was integrated according to the mean algorithm. The mean algorithm fusion of different evaluation techniques was compared to reveal the relationship between them, which indicated the effective improvement in accuracy and integrality. The combination of multiple analytical techniques developed in this study would effectively improve the existing single analytical methods and provide new strategy for drug quality consistency control.

Cost-effective and earth-friendly chemometrics-assisted spectrophotometric methods for simultaneous determination of Acetaminophen and Ascorbic Acid in pharmaceutical formulation

The development of analytical chemistry is omnipresent in all fields, this leads to considerable consumption of organic solvents and hazardous reagents with an increase in the production of waste to be treated. In this work, we developed simple, fast, cost-effective and above all environmentally friendly methods for the analysis of Acetaminophen (ACT) and Ascorbic acid (ASC) in synthetic mixtures and pharmaceutical formulation, using UV spectroscopy. Four chemometric methods were studied, including PLS-1 with full-spectrum (Full-PLS) and PLS-1 using three variable selection methods, namely subset selection through a genetic algorithm (GA), uninformative variable elimination using iterative predictor weighting (IPW), and variable selection by sub-window permutation analysis (SwPA). The accuracy of the developed methods was evaluated through the root mean square error of prediction (RMSEP), the mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) and the recovery values. All methods showed more accurate prediction results in comparison with full-PLS calibration. Furthermore, the results indicate that the GA-PLS models showed the highest prediction accuracy among all other models with RMSEP and MAPE values of (0.0494 and 0.610) and (0.0163 and 0.321) for the estimation of ACT and ASC, respectively. The proposed methods were successfully applied to the determination of ACT and ASC in their combined dosage form. In addition, the results obtained were statistically compared to those of the conventionally used HPLC method and were found to be in good agreement. The main advantages of the developed methods over HPLC during routine analysis are that they are faster, inexpensive, simple to perform, without the need for major pretreatment of samples. Besides, no organic solvents are used, and thus toxicity and pollution are avoided.

Simultaneous Determination of Caffeine and Paracetamol in Commercial Formulations Using Greener Normal-Phase and Reversed-Phase HPTLC Methods: A Contrast of Validation Parameters

There has been no assessment of the greenness of the described analytical techniques for the simultaneous determination (SMD) of caffeine and paracetamol. As a result, in comparison to the greener normal-phase high-performance thin-layer chromatography (HPTLC) technique, this research was conducted to develop a rapid, sensitive, and greener reversed-phase HPTLC approach for the SMD of caffeine and paracetamol in commercial formulations. The greenness of both techniques was calculated using the AGREE method. For the SMD of caffeine and paracetamol, the greener normal-phase and reversed-phase HPTLC methods were linear in the 50-500 ng/band and 25-800 ng/band ranges, respectively. For the SMD of caffeine and paracetamol, the greener reversed-phase HPTLC approach was more sensitive, accurate, precise, and robust than the greener normal-phase HPTLC technique. For the SMD of caffeine paracetamol in commercial PANEXT and SAFEXT tablets, the greener reversed-phase HPTLC technique was superior to the greener normal-phase HPTLC approach. The AGREE scores for the greener normal-phase and reversed-phase HPTLC approaches were estimated as 0.81 and 0.83, respectively, indicated excellent greenness profiles for both analytical approaches. The greener reversed-phase HPTLC approach is judged superior to the greener normal-phase HPTLC approach based on numerous validation parameters and pharmaceutical assays.

Evaluation of in silico and in lab sample enrichment techniques for the assessment of challengeable quaternary combination in critical ratio

A comparative study of successive spectrophotometric resolution technique for the simultaneous determination of a challengeable quaternary mixture of Chlorpheniramine maleate (CPM), Pseudoephedrine hydrochloride (PSE), Ibuprofen (IBU) and Caffeine (CAF) is presented, without preliminary physical separation steps. Several successive steps were applied on built-in spectrophotometer software utilizing zero and/or derivative and/or ratio spectra of the studied components. These methods, namely, Dual amplitude difference (DAD) as a novel method, Constant multiplication coupled with spectrum subtraction method (CM-SS), Factorized first derivative coupled with derivative transformation method (FD¹ -DT) and Derivative ratio method (DD¹). The calibration graphs are linear over the concentration range of 10.0-80.0 μg/mL,150.0-900.0 μg/mL, 200.0-1400.0 μg/mL and 3.0-30.0 μg/mL for CPM, PSE, IBU and CAF, respectively. The specificity of suggested methods was studied via laboratory prepared (diverse ratios) mixtures and were successfully applied for Antiflu® capsules' analysis. Moreover, sample enrichment via In Silico (via software of spectrophotometer) and In Lab (via spiking with pure sample) techniques was elected for a pharmaceutical dosage form analysis comprising CPM and PSE as minor components. Accuracy, precision and specificity were between the valid limits. Validation steps were done in accordance with the ICH guidelines. Moreover, statistical comparison was carried out between the obtained and reported results for pure powder form and no significant difference appeared.

Novel Rapid Isocratic RP-HPLC Method for Simultaneous Estimation of Phenylephrine Hydrochloride, Paracetamol, Caffeine, Diphenhydramine Hydrochloride

Background:

A tablet dosage form widely used in the treatment of cough and cold, containing phenylephrine hydrochloride, paracetamol, caffeine, and diphenhydramine hydrochloride as active pharmaceutical ingredient was selected for the development of a novel, rapid, simultaneous isocratic reversed phase-high performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) method.

Objective:

The objective of this paper was to develop and validate a novel, rapid, simple, precise, accurate and reproducible RP-HPLC method for simultaneous estimation of phenylephrine hydrochloride, paracetamol, caffeine, diphenhydramine hydrochloride in bulk and pharmaceutical dosage form.

Method:

Optimized chromatographic conditions were an isocratic elution with prontosil C18-column (250×4.6 mm, 5 μ), methanol and 20mM phosphate buffer (55:45 v/v, pH 3 ) as mobile phase, flow rate 1.0 mL/min and UV detector set at λ max 220 nm. The method was validated for specificity, precision, linearity, accuracy, sensitivity, and robustness as per the International Council for Harmonization guidelines.

Result:

The retention times of phenylephrine hydrochloride, paracetamol, caffeine, diphenhydramine hydrochloride were found to be 2.8 min, 3.3 min, and 4.0 min and 7.3 min, respectively. This novel method was found to be rapid, simple, linear (R2 0.99), preciserelative standard deviation < 2.0 %), accurate (recovery 98-102%), sensitive and robust.

Conclusion:

The proposed novel isocratic RP-HPLC method is rapid (short run time below 10min), highly selective, precise, accurate, sensitive and robust. The method was successfully applied for the simultaneous analysis of phenylephrine hydrochloride, paracetamol, caffeine, diphenhydramine hydrochloride in a pharmaceutical dosage form.

A Simple RP-HPLC Method to Simultaneously Assay the Contents of Lamivudine, Tenofovir, and Nevirapine in Fixed Dose Combined Oral Antiviral Medicines

An accurate and rapid reverse HPLC method has been developed and validated for the simultaneous quantification of lamivudine, nevirapine, and tenofovir disoproxil fumarate. Suitable separation was achieved on Phenomenex Synergi C18 (250 × 4.6 mm, 4 μm) using mobile phase, methanol (50%): ammonium acetate buffer (adjusted to pH 2.80) (40%): acetonitrile (10%) in an isocratic mode. The drugs were detected at 270 nm with a flow rate of 1.0 ml/min, and the retention times were found to be 3.26, 5.42, and 7.55 minutes for lamivudine, nevirapine, and tenofovir disoproxil fumarate, respectively. The developed method was validated per ICH guidelines. Good linearity was obtained within the concentration ranges of 10–59 µg/ml, 7–42 µg/ml, and 15–90 µg/ml with a correlation coefficient of not less than 0.990. The % RSD values for precision (intraday and interday) and accuracy studies were found to be less than 2%. The results obtained from quantitative analysis conform to USP content requirements for marketed tablet dosage forms, RICOVIR-LN, and tenofovir disoproxil fumarate/lamivudine tablets. The method is therefore useful for routine quality control of antiretroviral tablet dosage forms containing tenofovir disoproxil fumarate, lamivudine, and nevirapine.

Development and optimization of a generic HPLC method for the simultaneous determination of common ingredients in multi component cough and cold oral drug products using chemometrics

The aim of this work was to develop a single, generally applicable high performance liquid chromatography/diode array detector (HPLC/DAD) method for simultaneous determination of the most frequently used cough and cold active substances and their impurities that would be applicable for a number of possible formulation compositions of cough and cold medicines. The compounds that are separated by the method include eleven active substances: paracetamol, phenylephrine HCl, caffeine, ibuprofen, ascorbic acid, propiphenazone, pheniramine maleate, chlorphenamine maleate, pseudoephedrine HCl, dextromethorphan HBr and cetylpyridinium Cl; five of their impurities: 4-aminophenol, 4-nitrophenol, 4`-chloroacetanilide, chlorphenamine impurity C and ephedrine HCl; and two preservatives: sodium benzoate and propyl parahydroxybenzoate. All 18 compounds were successfully separated on a reversed phase (RP)-HPLC column with superficially porous particles using gradient elution with a very simple mobile phase in 14 minutes with excellent sensitivity and resolution. Method optimization was performed by the design of experiments approach. The proposed method has been validated according to ICH guidelines and proved to be suitable for the simultaneous qualitative and quantitative determination of the selected compounds in different cough and cold dosage forms. Keywords: cough and cold active substances and impurities, HPLC/DAD, superficially porous particles, core-shell particles, chemometrics, design of experiments