Optimization and validation of a gas chromatographic method for analysis of (RS,SR)-diastereoisomeric impurity in formoterol fumarate

Isocratic ion pair chromatography for estimation of novel combined inhalation therapy that blocks coronavirus replication in chronic asthmatic patients

A rapid and sensitive isocratic ion-pair chromatographic method was developed for the accurate analysis of ternary mixtures of formoterol, tiotropium, and ciclesonide in their novel combined inhalation that is widely used for the symptomatic treatment of patients with chronic obstructive disease. Analytical separation was performed using a C8 column and ion pair mobile phase composed of acetonitrile: acidified deionized water (55: 45% v/v) containing 0.025% sodium dodecyl sulfate. The pH was adjusted to 3.0 using orthophosphoric acid and eluted isocratically at 2.0 mL/min and 40 °C applying UV detection at 237 nm. The calibration ranges were found to be 0.3-9.0 µg/mL for formoterol, 0.45-13.5 µg/mL for tiotropium, and 10.0-300.0 µg/mL concerning ciclesonide. The proposed method exhibited good repeatability, accuracy, and sensitivity (R.S.D. < 2.0%). The approach is rapid (run time does not exceed 15 min) and achieves satisfactory resolution (resolution factors = 7.45 and 5.3 between formoterol and tiotropium and tiotropium and ciclesonide respectively). The sensitivity and the efficiency of the proposed method permit their successful estimation with a recovery percentage ± SD of 99.33% ± 0.43 for formoterol, 99.15% ± 0.60 for tiotropium, and 99.90% ± 0.41 for ciclesonide.

Multiple analytical methods for determination of formoterol and glycopyrronium simultaneously in their novel combined metered dose inhaler

One of the major causes of mortality all over the world is chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Recently approved combined inhaler of formoterol fumarate (FF) and glycopyrronium bromide (GLY) has been used in very low concentrations (µg level/actuation) doses in COPD patients. The first spectrophotometric and advanced highly sensitive liquid chromatography has been achieved successfully throughout this study, permitting validated analysis of dual combined inhaler in raw material as well as pharmaceutical inhaled dosage form. Three sensitive analytical methods were carried out for the simultaneous assay of FF and GLY in their novel combined Metered dose inhaler (MDI). The first method depends on measuring the first derivative amplitudes at 208.27 nm for FF and at 213.27 nm and 239.86 nm for GLY, respectively. The second method depends on measurement of the first derivative of the ratio spectra at 214 or 229 nm for FF and 240 or 259 nm for GLY, respectively. For the spectrophotometric methods, the linearity ranges were 0.48-9.6 µg/mL for FF and 0.9-18 µg/mL for GLY. For the third method, valid ion-pairing chromatographic method was carried out applying C₁₈ column and isocratic mobile phase of 60% v/v acetonitrile and 40% v/v deionized waster (pH 3.0) enclosing 0.025% sodium dodecyl sulfate, using UV detection adjusted to 210 nm and flow rate of 1.2 mL/min. For the ion-pairing chromatographic method, the linearity ranges were 0.048-4.8 µg/mL for FF and 0.09-9.0 µg/mL for GLY. The developed methods are reproducible, valid and offer efficient resolution between formoterol and glycopyrronium using spectrophotometric methods and highly sensitive and precise chromatographic method. The percent recoveries of the inhaled drugs in their MDI were good. The method was successfully established for the quantitative analysis of FF and GLY in their combined pharmaceutical inhaler capsules to validate the therapeutic efficiency of the combined drugs in quality control labs.

Preparation of yolk-shell structured copper oxide@silica oxide spheres and their application in high performance electrochemical sensing of Formoterol fumarate residues in swine feed and tissues

In this paper, we report a facile route to synthesize yolk-shell structured copper oxide@silica oxide (CuO@SiO2) spheres and their application to construct an electrochemical Formoterol fumarate (FF) sensor. The CuO@SiO2 was characterized by means of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray powder diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. Further, FF was electrocatalytically oxidized at the CuO@SiO2 film modified glassy carbon electrode (GCE), which led to a sensitive determination of FF. The oxidation current of FF was linear with concentration in the range of 0.030-10 μM and the detection limit was found to be 5.0 nM (S/N = 3). The observed analytical parameters such as wide linear range, low detection limit and short response time were superior to previously reported FF sensors. Finally, it was demonstrated that the proposed sensor could be used for the selective determination of FF present in swine feed and tissues.

Validated stability-indicating derivative and derivative ratio methods for the determination of some drugs used to alleviate respiratory tract disorders and their degradation products

Derivative and derivative ratio methods are presented for the determination of butamirate citrate, formoterol fumarate, montelukast sodium, and sodium cromoglycate. Using the second derivative ultraviolet (UV) spectrophotometry, butamirate citrate and formoterol fumarate were determined by measuring the peak amplitude at 260.4 and 261.8 nm, respectively, without any interference of their degradation products. Butamirate citrate degradation product, 2-phenyl butyric acid, was determined by the measurement of its second derivative amplitude at 246.7 nm where butamirate citrate displays zero crossing. Formoterol fumarate degradation product, desformyl derivative, could be evaluated through the use of the first derivative at peak amplitude of 264.8 nm where interference of formoterol fumarate is negligible. In the first mode, the zero-crossing technique was applied at 305 nm for the determination of montelukast sodium in the presence of its photodegradation product, cis-isomer. The derivative of ratio spectra of montelukast sodium and its cis- isomer were used to determine both isomers using the first derivative of the ratio spectra by measuring the amplitudes of the trough at 305 nm and the peak at 308 nm, respectively. The later technique was also used for the determination of a ternary mixture of sodium cromoglycate and its two degradation products using zero-crossing method. In the derivative ratio spectra of the ternary mixture, trough depths were measured at 271.6, 302.8 and 302.2 nm, using the second, the first, and the second mode to evaluate sodium cromoglycate, degradation product (1) and degradation product (2), respectively. All the methods were applied successfully to the pharmaceutical preparation and were validated according to ICH guidelines.

On-line preconcentration and chiral separation of propiconazole by cyclodextrin-modified micellar electrokinetic chromatography

A method for the chiral separation of propiconazole using cyclodextrin-modified micellar electrokinetic chromatography (CD-MEKC) with hydroxypropyl-gamma-cyclodextrin (HP-gamma-CD) as chiral selector is reported. The use of a mixture of 30 mM HP-gamma-CD, 50mM SDS, methanol-acetonitrile 10%:5% (v/v) in 25 mM phosphate buffer solution was able to separate two enantiomeric pairs of propiconazole. Stacking- and sweeping-CD-MEKC under neutral pH (pH 7) and under acidic condition (pH 3.0) were used as two on-line preconcentration methods to increase detection sensitivity of propiconazole. Good repeatabilities in the migration time, peak area and peak height were obtained in terms of relative standard deviation (RSD). A sensitivity enhancement factor of 100-fold was achieved using sweeping-CD-MEKC at acidic pH. This is the first report on the separation of two pairs of propiconazole enantiomers and all the enantiomers of fenbuconazole and tebuconazole using sweeping-CD-MEKC. The limit of detection (S/N=3) for the three triazole fungicides ranged from 0.09 to 0.1 microg/mL, which is well below the maximum residue limits (MRL) set by Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC). Combination of solid-phase extraction (SPE) pretreatment and sweeping-CD-MEKC procedure was applied to the determination of selected triazole fungicides in grapes samples spiked at concentration 10-40 times lower than the MRL established by the CAC. The average recoveries of the selected fungicides in spiked grapes samples were good, ranging from 73% to 109% with RSD of 9-12% (n=3).