Retention behaviour of quinolone derivatives in high-performance liquid chromatography. Effect of pH and evaluation of ionization constants

Green magnetic nanomaterial as antibiotic release vehicle: The release of pefloxacin and ofloxacin

The increased efflux of fluoroquinolone antibiotics to the environment has become of worldwide concern due to their potential to disturb aquatic ecosystems. How to improve the antibiotic release is a challenge. In this work, magnetic Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles as a drug release vehicle were prepared using the green synthesis method. It is a simple and environmental friendly technique that employs the plant extract as a reducing and coating agent during the preparation process. Antibiotics ofloxacin and pefloxacin served as the drug model and the drug release behavior was tested at various pH levels. The release efficiency of ofloxacin from Fe₃O₄ reached 99.6% and for pefloxacin it was 57.0% at 310 K after 120 h (pH 10.5). The scanning electron microscope images show that Fe₃O₄ particles ranged in size from 10 to 40 nm and magnetism testing indicated that saturation magnetization was 58.7 emu/g. Furthermore, zeta potential, FTIR, UV-VIS, XRD and XPS were used to provide the evidence to support the release mechanism, where was based on the pH control. Our work clearly demonstrated that Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles were a potential as a targeted drug delivery system.

Chromatographic Determination of Thermodynamic Acid Dissociation Constants of Tetracycline Antibiotics and Their Epimers

The presented study describes the development of reversed-phase liquid chromatography method using a core-shell particle column with a pentafluorophenyl stationary phase for the dissociation constant (pKa) determination of the tetracycline group antibiotics (tetracycline, oxytetracycline, chlortetracycline) and their epimers (4-epitetracycline, 4-epioxytetracycline, 4-epichlortetracycline). The pH values were measured in the acetonitrile (ACN)–water binary mixtures, used as mobile phases, instead of in water and take into account the effect of the activity coefficients. Thermodynamic acid dissociation constant (pKa1) values of studied antibiotics and their epimers were calculated using retention factor (k) at different mobile phase pH values in studied binary mixtures with ACN percentages of 20, 25, 30 and 35% (v/v). Experimental data were analyzed by using an Origin 7.0 program to fit experimental data to the nonlinear expression derived. From calculated pKa1 values, the aqueous pKa values of studied compounds were calculated by different approaches and these values were compared.

High throughput method to characterize acid-base properties of insoluble drug candidates in water

In drug design experimental characterization of acidic groups in candidate molecules is one of the more important steps prior to the in-vivo studies. Potentiometry combined with Yasuda-Shedlovsky extrapolation is one of the more important strategy to study drug candidates with low solubility in water, although, it requires a large number of sequences to determine pK_a values at different solvent-mixture compositions to, finally, obtain the pK_a in water (pwwK_a) by extrapolation. We have recently proposed a method which requires only two sequences of additions to study the effect of organic solvent content in liquid chromatography mobile phases on the acidity of the buffer compounds usually dissolved in it along wide ranges of compositions. In this work we propose to apply this method to study thermodynamic pwwK_a of drug candidates with low solubilities in pure water. Using methanol/water solvent mixtures we study six pharmaceutical drugs at 25 °C. Four of them: ibuprofen, salicylic acid, atenolol and labetalol, were chosen as members of carboxylic, amine and phenol families, respectively. Since these compounds have known pwwK_a values, they were used to validate the procedure, the accuracy of Yasuda-Shedlovsky and other empirical models to fit the behaviors, and to obtain pwwK_a by extrapolation. Finally, the method is applied to determine unknown thermodynamic pwwK_a values of two pharmaceutical drugs: atorvastatin calcium and the two dissociation constants of ethambutol. The procedure proved to be simple, very fast and accurate in all of the studied cases.

New model of metalloantibiotic: synthesis, structure and biological activity of a zinc(ii) mononuclear complex carrying two enrofloxacin and sulfadiazine antibiotics

Synthesis of a new model of the Zn-based complex with two complementary antibiotics (sulfonamide and quinolone).

Ionic liquid-based homogeneous liquid-liquid microextraction for the determination of antibiotics in milk by high-performance liquid chromatography

Ionic liquid-based homogeneous liquid-liquid microextraction (IL-based HLLME) high-performance liquid chromatography was developed and applied to the extraction, separation and determination of some antibiotics in milk. The proteins and lipids were removed by adding salt and adjusting the pH value. The homogeneous extraction was applied to the improvement of recoveries for IL phase and analytes. The experimental parameters of the IL-based HLLME, including salt concentration in sample solution, pH value of sample solution, volume of [C(6)MIM][BF(4)], amount of ion-pairing agent (NH(4)PF(6)), and extraction time, were evaluated. The limits of detection for enoxacin, pefloxacin, norfloxacin, enrofloxacin, sulfamethoxazole and sulfadimethoxine were 15.8, 7.07, 5.13, 4.00, 7.79 and 8.33 μg L(-1), respectively. When the proposed method was applied to the analysis of milk samples the recoveries of the analytes ranged from 92.5 to 118.6% and relative standard deviations were lower than 7.00%.

Study of the interaction between ofloxacin and human serum albumin by spectroscopic methods

The binding of ofloxacin (OFLX) to human serum albumin (HSA) was investigated by fluorescence and circular dichroism (CD) techniques. The binding parameters have been evaluated by a fluorescence quenching method. Competitive binding measurements were performed in the presence of warfarin and ibuprofen and suggest binding to the warfarin site I of HSA. The distance r between donor (HSA) and acceptor (OFLX) was estimated according to the Forster's theory of non-radiatiative energy transfer. CD spectra revealed that the binding of OFLX to HSA induced conformational changes in HSA. Molecular docking was performed and shows that for the lowest energy complex OFLX is located in site I of HSA, which correlate to the competitive binding experiments.

Investigation of the retention/pH profile of zwitterionic fluoroquinolones in reversed-phase and ion-interaction high performance liquid chromatography

The retention/pH profiles of three fluoroquinolones, ofloxacin, norfloxacin and ciprofloxacin, was investigated by means of reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) and reversed-phase ion-interaction chromatography (RP-IIC), using an octadecylsilane stationary phase and acetonitrile as organic modifier. Sodium hexanesulphonate and tetrabutylammonium hydroxide were used as sources of counter ions in ion-interaction chromatography. The retention/pH profiles under in RP-HPLC were compared to the corresponding lipophilicity/pH profiles. Despite the rather hydrophilic nature of the three fluoroquinolones positive retention factors were obtained while there was a shift of the retention maximum towards more acidic pH values. This behavior was attributed mainly to non-hydrophobic silanophilic interactions with the silanized silica gel material of the stationary phase. In ion-interaction chromatography the effect of counter ions over a broad pH range was found to be ruled rather by the ion pair formation in the mobile phase which led to a drastic decrease in retention as a consequence of the disruption of the zwitterionic structure and thereupon the deliberation of a net charge in the molecules. At pH values at which zwitterionic structure was not favored both the ion-exchange and ion pair formation mechanisms were assumed to contribute to the retention.

Determination of enrofloxacin and its metabolite ciprofloxacin by high performance capillary electrophoresis with end-column amperometric detection

Enrofloxacin (ENR) and its metabolite ciprofloxacin (CIP) were determined by capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) with end-column amperometric detection. The effect of several factors, such as pH and concentration of running buffer solution, separation voltage, injection time, and working potential, on CZE were investigated to establish the optimal conditions of separation and detection. Under a given set of conditions (pH 8.00 phosphate buffer solution (20 mmol/L); +0.95 V for the working potential; 18 kV for the separation voltage; sample injection at 18 kV for 10 s), the compounds investigated can be well separated and detected within 8 min. Excellent linearity was observed between peak currents and concentration of analytes in the range from 0.034 to 70.0 mg/kg for these two compounds. The detection limits (S/N= 3) for enrofloxacin and ciprofloxacin were 13.68 mg/kg and 14.35 mg/kg, respectively, which were about 7-fold lower than the maximum residue limits (MRLs) established by the European Union. A simple sample pretreatment method was developed and proved to be effective in obtaining good recoveries and short analysis time. The developed CE-AD method was simpler, faster, and less cost intensive than other reported methods, and allows the determination of ENR and its metabolite CIP in contaminated eel liver samples and other animal tissue samples at the required maximum residue limits.

High-performance liquid chromatographic determination of ciprofloxacin in plasma samples

A new bioanalytical high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) method for the determination of ciprofloxacin with norfloxacin as an internal standard was developed and validated for plasma samples. Norfloxacin is structural homologue of ciprofloxacin and exhibits similar retention properties. The quality of respective peak separation is strongly influenced by amphoteric character of ciprofloxacin and norfloxacin as well. In previously published HPLC methods on conventional C18 reversed-phase [F. Belal, A.A. Al-Majed, A.M. Al-Obaid, Talanta 50 (1999) 765-786; G. Carlucci, J. Chromatogr. A 812 (1998) 343-367], ion pair reagents were added into the mobile phase to suppress peak tailing. In comparison with endcapped and high purity silica reversed-phase sorbent (Purospher RP-18e, Merck), which yielded symmetrical peaks, separation efficiency was further enhanced in our method. Gradient elution mode using acetonitrile and phosphate buffer pH 3 on the pentafluorophenylpropyl stationary phase (250-4.6 mm Discovery HS F5, 5 microm, Supelco) was carried out. The resolution of 4.1 for ciprofloxacin-norfloxacin peaks was achieved. Sample preparation by SPE C18 (Supelclean) with recovery 72% was performed. Fluorescence detection with lambda(excit)=280 nm, lambda(emis)=446 nm was used. After the validation, the bioanalytical HPLC method was applied to pharmacokinetic studies.

Determination of the pH of binary mobile phases for reversed-phase liquid chromatography

The measurement of pH in chromatographic mobile phases has been a constant subject of discussion during many years. The pH of the mobile phase is an important parameter that determines the chromatographic retention of many analytes with acid-base properties. In many instances a proper pH measurement is needed to assure the accuracy of retention-pH relationships or the reproducibility of chromatographic procedures. Three different methods are common in pH measurement of mobile phases: measurement of pH in the aqueous buffer before addition of the organic modifier, measurement of pH in the mobile phase prepared by mixing aqueous buffer and organic modifier after pH calibration with standard solutions prepared in the same mobile phase solvent, and measurement of pH in the mobile phase prepared by mixing aqueous buffer and organic modifier after pH calibration with aqueous standard solutions. This review discusses the different pH measurement and calibration procedures in terms of the theoretical and operational definitions of the different pH scales that can be applied to water-organic solvent mixtures. The advantages and disadvantages of each procedure are also presented through chromatographic examples. Finally, practical recommendations to select the most appropriate pH measurement procedure for particular chromatographic problems are given.

Evaluation of chromatographic versus electrophoretic behaviour of a series of therapeutical peptide hormones

In this work, models describing the effect of pH on chromatographic and electrophoretic behaviour for a series of polyprotic therapeutic peptide hormones were compared. taking into account the species in solution and the activity coefficients. The usefulness of the proposed equations is twofold, they permit the determination of the acidity constants in water and in the hydroorganic mobile phases used in liquid chromatography (LC) and capillary electrophoresis (CE) and can also be used for the selection of the optimum pH for the separation of mixtures of the modelled compounds. The proposed relationships allow an important reduction of the experimental data needed for the development of new separation methods. The accuracy of the proposed equations is verified by modelling the chromatographic and electrophoretic behaviour of a series of polyprotic therapeutic peptide hormones. By calculating the values of predicted resolutions, selection of the optimum pH to perform LC or CE separations of their mixtures becomes a rapid and simple process.

Influence of mobile phase acid-base equilibria on the chromatographic behaviour of protolytic compounds

A review about the influence of mobile phase acid-base equilibria on the liquid chromatography retention of protolytic analytes with acid-base properties is presented. The general equations that relate retention to mobile phase pH are derived and the different procedures to measure the pH of the mobile phase are explained. These procedures lead to different pH scales and the relationships between these scales are presented. IUPAC rules for nomenclature of the different pH are also presented. Proposed literature buffers for pH standardization in chromatographic mobile phases are reviewed too. Since relationships between analyte retention and mobile phase pH depends also on the pKa value of the analyte, the solute pKa data in water-organic solvent mixtures more commonly used as chromatographic mobile phase are also reviewed. The solvent properties that produce variation of the pKa values with solvent composition are discussed. Chromatographic examples of the results obtained with the different procedures for pH measurement are presented too. Application to the determination of aqueous pKa values from chromatographic retention data is also critically discussed.

Determination of quinolones and fluoroquinolones in fish tissue and seafood by high-performance liquid chromatography with electrospray ionisation tandem mass spectrometric detection

A reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatographic method with tandem mass-spectrometric detection was developed and validated for the simultaneous analysis of eight quinolones and fluoroquinolones (oxolinic acid, flumequine, piromidic acid, enrofloxacin, ciprofloxacin, danofloxacin, sarafloxacin and orbifloxacin) in trout tissue, prawns and abalone. The analytes were extracted from homogenised tissue using acetonitrile and the extracts subjected to an automated two-stage solid-phase extraction process involving polymeric reversed-phase and anion-exchange cartridges. Good recoveries were obtained for all analytes and the limit of quantification was 5 microg/kg (10 microg/kg for ciprofloxacin). The limit of detection was 1-3 microg/kg, depending on the analyte and matrix. Confirmation of the identity of a residue was achieved by further tandem mass-spectrometric analysis. A procedure for estimating the uncertainty associated with the measurement is presented.

Prediction of chromatographic retention, pKa values and optimization of the separation of polyphenolic acids in strawberries

Polyphenolic acids are a complex group of compounds that have attracted enormous attention in the last few years because of their biological properties. In this work, the proportion of organic modifier and the pH of acetonitrile-water mixtures used as mobile phases were optimized in order to separate a series of polyphenolic compounds. The linear solvation energy relationship formalism based on the single solvent polarity parameter, E(T)N was used to predict their chromatographic behavior as a function of the percentage of acetonitrile in the eluent. Moreover, the correlation established between retention and the pH of the aqueous-organic mobile phase was used to optimize the pH of the mobile phase. The optimized mobile phase is composed of acetonitrile and formic acid buffer adjusted to pH 4.25, with 12% (v/v) acetonitrile. Also, the pKa values of polyphenolic acids in acetonitrile-water mixtures were determined using chromatographic data, and in order to validate the optimized conditions, a series of polyphenolic compounds was studied in strawberries.

Optimisation of a dialytic set-up for liquid chromatography: automated separation and preconcentration of ciprofloxacin

Continuous-flow and static dialysis coupled on-line to liquid chromatography was evaluated and an automated method for determination of ciprofloxacin in biological samples developed. A trace enrichment column packed with C18 material and coupled with a continuous dialysis and reversed-phase HPLC system with fluorescence detection enabled determination of ciprofloxacin in human blood serum at the 0.1-nmol/l level. The amount of analyte preconcentrated and loaded on the HPLC system was linearly proportional to the concentration in the dialysed sample over more than 4 orders of magnitude (up to 1 x 10(-6) M). Data for linearity, repeatability and detectability for each particular set-up are given. The trace enrichment step eliminates band broadening caused by solvents different from those of the eluent and affecting retention of ciprofloxacin on the analytical column (increase in k') due to the on-column change of eluent composition. In analysis of human serum samples phthalates leached from plastic materials may interfere due to coelution with the analyte.

Determination of the dissociation constants (pKa) of basic acetylcholinesterase inhibitors by reversed-phase liquid chromatography

An RP-HPLC study for the pKa determination of a series of basic compounds related to caproctamine, a dibenzylaminediamide reversible inhibitor of acetylcholinesterase, is reported. The 2-substituted analogues, bearing substituents with different electronegativity, were analysed by RP-HPLC by using C18 C4 stationary phases with a mobile phase consisting of mixture of acetonitrile and triethylamine phosphate buffer (pH range comprised between 4 and 10). Typical sigmoidal curves were obtained, showing the dependence of the capacity factors upon pH. In general, the retention of the investigated basic analytes increased with increasing of the pH. The inflection point of the pH sigmoidal dependence was used for the dissociation constant determination at a fixed acetonitrile percentage. When plotting pKa vs. percent of acetonitrile in the mobile phase for two representative compounds, linear regression were obtained: the y intercept gave the aqueous pKa(w). The pKa estimation by HPLC method was found to be useful to underline the difference of benzylamine basicity produced by the ortho aromatic substituents. The variation of pKa values (6.15-7.80) within the series of compounds was correlated with the electronic properties of the ortho-substituents through the Hammett sigma parameter, whereas the ability of substituents to accept H-bond was found to play a role in determining the conformational behavior of the molecules.

HPLC separation of antibiotics present in formulated and unformulated samples

Analysis of antibiotics in formulated and unformulated samples demand a highly specific and rapid method as many antibiotics (e.g. beta-lactams) have serious stability problems. HPLC techniques can provide a valuable tool for generating highly pure preparations for characterizing the antimicrobial activities. In the present review article, column and mobile phase conditions for the various classes of antibiotics viz. penicillins, cephalosporins, macrolides, tetracyclines, aminoglycosides, quinolones, rifamycins etc. have been presented from April 1998 to November 2000. A brief discussion on chemical structure, spectrum of activity and action mechanism of each class has also been given.

Prediction of pharmacokinetics prior to in vivo studies. 1. Mechanism-based prediction of volume of distribution

In drug discovery and nonclinical development the volume of distribution at steady state (V(ss)) of each novel drug candidate is commonly determined under in vivo conditions. Therefore, it is of interest to predict V(ss) without conducting in vivo studies. The traditional description of V(ss) corresponds to the sum of the products of each tissue:plasma partition coefficient (P(t:p)) and the respective tissue volume in addition to the plasma volume. Because data on volumes of tissues and plasma are available in the literature for mammals, the other input parameters needed to estimate V(ss) are the P(t:p)'s, which can potentially be predicted with established tissue composition-based equations. In vitro data on drug lipophilicity and plasma protein binding are the input parameters used in these equations. Such a mechanism-based approach would be particularly useful to provide first-cut estimates of V(ss) prior to any in vivo studies and to explore potential unexpected deviations between sets of predicted and in vivo V(ss) data, when the in vivo data become available during the drug development process. The objective of the present study was to use tissue composition-based equations to predict rat and human V(ss) prior to in vivo studies for 123 structurally unrelated compounds (acids, bases, and neutrals). The predicted data were compared with in vivo data obtained from the literature or at Roche. Overall, the average ratio of predicted-to-experimental rat and human V(ss) values was 1.06 (SD = 0.817, r = 0.78, n = 147). In fact, 80% of all predicted values were within a factor of two of the corresponding experimental values. The drugs can therefore be separated into two groups. The first group contains 98 drugs for which the predicted V(ss) were within a factor of two of those experimentally determined (average ratio of 1.01, SD = 0.39, r = 0.93, n = 118), and the second group includes 25 other drugs for which the predicted and experimental V(ss) differ by a factor larger than two (average ratio of 1.32, SD = 1.74, r = 0.42, n = 29). Thus, additional relevant distribution processes were neglected in predicting V(ss) of drugs of the second group. This was true especially in the case of some cationic-amphiphilic bases. The present study is the first attempt to develop and validate a mechanistic distribution model for predicting rat and human V(ss) of drugs prior to in vivo studies.

Prediction of retention behaviour and evaluation of pka values of peptides and quinolones in liquid chromatography

The present paper examines the effect of the solute ionisation on the retention behaviour in liquid chromatography of a series of peptide and quinolone compounds of biological interest, using acetonitrile-water media as mobile phases and a polymeric-based stationary phase. Polymeric columns with polystyrene-divinylbenzene (PS-DVB) polymer show advantages over silica-based reversed-phase packings since the former are stable in a wide pH range. (s)(s)pKa values have been evaluated using chromatographic data in acetonitrile-water mixtures with acetonitrile percentages of 30, 35, 40 and 50% (v/v) for quinolones and 12.5 and 20% (v/v) for peptides. The quinolones show great retention on PS-DVB phase stationary. It was thus necessary to work with a higher acetonitrile content in the mobile phase than for the less retained peptides. The pH values were measured in the hydroorganic mixtures, used as mobile phases, instead of in water and account was taken of the effect of activity coefficients. The derived equations permit the chromatographic determination of (s)(s)pKa. values of the peptides and quinolones in acetonitrile-water mixtures by fitting it to the experimental data in a nonlinear least-square procedure and also permit the prediction of the effect of (s)(s)pH on their chromatographic behaviour. We have also compared the obtained (s)(s)pKa values with those previously obtained in acetonitrile-water mixtures from potentiometric measurements.

Dependence of reversed-phase retention of ionizable analytes on pH, concentration of organic solvent and silanol activity

In reversed-phase chromatography, the retention of ionizable analytes is influenced by the ionic properties of the packing caused by surface silanol groups. We have measured the ion-exchange properties of both reversed-phase bonded phases and their underlying base materials. The probe used in this part of the study was bretylium tosylate. The acquired knowledge is then used for a complete and quantitative understanding of the retention behavior of ionizable compounds as a function of the pH of the mobile phase and the solvent composition. We have studied the retention pattern of a broad range of acids, bases, and polyfunctional analytes over the pH range from 2 to 11 and from water to 80% acetonitrile. A few application examples demonstrate the relevant findings.

Electrophoretic behavior of peptides in capillary electrophoresis influence of ionic strength and pH in aqueous-organic media

Through correct pH, pKa and activity coefficients values, a model describing the effect of pH on electrophoretic mobility of substances has been applied to a series of peptides in water and in acetonitrile-water mixtures. The derived equations permit prediction of the optimum pH for the electrophoretic separation from only a few experimental values and they also permit determination of pKa values of analytes in the aqueous-organic media employed. Furthermore, the electrophoretic resolution between pairs of substances can be predicted, in order to evaluate electrophoretic separations of the studied peptides.

Validation of an analytical procedure for the determination of the fluoroquinolone ofloxacin in chicken tissues

A novel analytical procedure was developed for the determination of the fluoroquinolone ofloxacin in chicken kidney, liver, muscle and fat plus skin tissues. The procedure involved a preliminary extraction with 0.15 M HCl followed by solid-phase extraction clean-up. The purification step was performed using a polymeric sorbent coated cartridge. Ofloxacin was analyzed by reversed-phase HPLC using UV detection at 295 nm. The mobile phase used was water-acetonitrile-triethylamine (83:14:0.45, v/v, pH 2.30). The use of triethylamine and the acidic pH modulated the retention of ofloxacin and avoided chemical tailing. The amine modifier and acetonitrile content of the mobile phase were optimized to provide the best selectivity. A flow-rate of 1 ml/min was used and ofloxacin eluted at approximately 5.1 min. HPLC analysis of the tissue samples was performed in 12 min. The procedure was validated according to the International Conference on Harmonisation guidelines across the concentration ranges (100 microg/kg-1.7 mg/kg for kidney and liver tissues and 50 microg/kg-1.0 mg/kg for muscle and fat plus skin tissues). The linearity, the intra- and inter-day accuracies and precisions were determined. The limits of quantification were 50 microg/kg for muscle and fat plus skin tissues and 100 microg/kg for liver and kidney tissues. The procedure was specific and the accuracy values were lower than 20% at the limit of quantitation of spiked samples. The recovery values ranged from 80 to 100%. The limits of detection were established at 60 microg/kg for liver and kidney tissues and at 25 microg/kg for muscle and fat plus skin tissues. Finally, ofloxacin was found to be stable in acidic conditions. The developed procedure is simple, sensitive, accurate and adapted to routine sample analyses such as those carried out for residue depletion studies.

Retention behaviour of peptides, quinolones, diuretics and peptide hormones in liquid chromatography

Peptides, quinolones, diuretics and peptide hormones are important substances of biomedical interest. In this work a model describing the effect of pH on retention in liquid chromatography (LC) is established and tested for these compounds using an octadecylsilica column. The suggested model uses the pH value measured in the hydro-organic mixture used as mobile phase instead of the pH value in water and takes into account the effect of the activity coefficients. The proposed equations permit the prediction of the pH optimum using a minimum number of measurements and also permit the determination of the acidity constants of the compounds considered in the medium used as mobile phase. Moreover, these equations can be combined with the previously derived equations, that relate the retention with the solvent composition of the mobile phase, to establish a general model that relates the elution behaviour of the solute with the significant mobile phase properties: composition, pH and ionic strength.

Enantioseparation of ofloxacin in urine by capillary electrokinetic chromatography using charged cyclodextrins as chiral selectors and assessment of enantioconversion

A method was developed for the enantioseparation of ofloxacin, a member of the fluoroquinolones, using an anionic cyclodextrin-derivative with or without combination with a neutral cyclodextrin-derivative, as the chiral selector (s) in an electrokinetic chromatography system. The best results were obtained with 0.35 mM sulfated beta-cyclodextrin dissolved in a 50 mM phosphate buffer, pH 2.5, and at 15 degrees C. Under these conditions, a resolution of 2 was readily achieved. Furthermore, under adequate separation conditions, studies were performed in order to assess possible in vitro and in vivo enantioconversion of levofloxacin. The current method allows detection of 2 microg R-(+)-ofloxacine/mL diluted urine without the necessity of sample cleanup.

Evaluation of electrophoretic method versus chromatographic, potentiometric and absorptiometric methodologies for determing pK(a) values of quinolones in hydroorganic mixtures

The advantages of using capillary electrophoresis (CE) over other methodologies for determining pK(a) values of drugs in hydroorganic media are discussed. The focus of the discussion based upon the pK(a) values of a series of quinolones determined in acetonitrile (MeCN)--water mixtures by CE, liquid chromatography, potentiometric, and spectrophotometric methods.

Determination of quinolones in plasma samples by capillary electrophoresis using solid-phase extraction

The potential of capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) and micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography (MEKC) have been investigated for the separation and quantitative determination of 10 quinolone antibiotics. The influence of different conditions, such as the buffer and pH of the electrolyte, the surfactant and the ion-pairing agents added to the electrolyte and the organic modifier were studied. A buffer consisting of 40 mM sodium tetraborate at pH 8.1 containing 10% (v/v) methanol was found to be a highly efficient electrophoretic system for separating lomefloxacin, enoxacin, norfloxacin, pipemidic acid, ofloxacin, piromidic acid, flumequine, oxolinic acid, cinoxacin and nalidixic acid. A solid-phase extraction method to remove the sample matrix (pig plasma samples) was developed on a C(18) cartridge using a mixture of methanol-water (70:30, v/v). The method is specific and reproducible and mean recoveries were in the range 94.0+/-4.2% and 123.3+/-4.1% for pig plasma samples over the range used. A linear relationship between concentration and peak area for each compound in pig plasma samples was obtained in the concentration range 5-20 mg l(-1) and detection limits were between 1.1 and 2.4 mg l(-1).

Influence of pH and pKa values on electrophoretic behaviour of quinolones in aqueous and hydro-organic media

Through correct pH measurements, pKa and activity coefficient values, a model describing their effect on electrophoretic behaviour of substances is established. The suggested model uses the pH values in the acetonitrile-water mixtures used and takes into account the effect of activity coefficients. The model permits the calculation of acidity constants of analytes in hydro-organic media and also the prediction of the effect of pH on the electrophoretic mobility. The model is tested by determining the dissociation constants of a series of nine quinolones in acetonitrile-water mixtures of 0, 5.5, 10 and 30% (w/w) acetonitrile.

Prediction of electrophoretic mobilities in non-aqueous capillary electrophoresis. Optimal separation of quinolones in acetonitrile-water media

A model of electrophoretic behaviour is used to predict the optimum conditions for the separation of a series of quinolones zwitterionic substances in mixtures of acetonitrile-water up to 30% (w/w) of acetonitrile. The effect of pH, pKa, the electrophoretic mobility of protonated and anionic species, and activity coefficients on the electrophoretic behaviour of quinolones is considered. The model proposed allows the resolution between substances in acetonitrile-water mixtures to be predicted from a few experimental data and thus permits one to obtain the best experimental conditions for separation methodologies.

Determination of quinolones in animal tissues and eggs by high-performance liquid chromatography with photodiode-array detection

A rapid, specific reversed-phase HPLC method is described, with solid-phase extraction, for assaying five quinolones (ciprofloxacin, difloxacin, enrofloxacin, norfloxacin and marbofloxacin) with confirmative diode-array detection in samples of bovine kidney, muscle and eggs. The least efficient extraction was marbofloxacin from kidney tissue (64%). The lower detection limit for each quinolone was: enrofloxacin and ciprofloxacin, 1 ng; norfloxacin and difloxacin, 2 ng; marbofloxacin, 4 ng injected. The intra-day relative standard deviations were lower than 7.9% and lower than 8.6% for inter-day assays. These results indicate that the developed method had an acceptable precision.