Liquid Chromatographic Enantioseparation of Some Fluoroquinoline Drugs Using Several Polysaccharide-Based Chiral Stationary Phases

The enantioseparation of three fluoroquinoline antibacterial drugs, namely, flumequine, ofloxacin and lomefloxacin using high-performance liquid chromatography was optimized on seven polysaccharide-derived chiral stationary phases, namely, Chiralpak® IB, chiralpak® IA, Chiralpak® AD, Chiralcel® OJ, Chiralcel® OD, Chiralcel® OD-H and Chiralcel® OZ-3 and applying different mobile phases in isocratic mode is described. The role of addition of organic additives was also investigated. A baseline separation of flumequine, ofloxacin and lomefloxacin enantiomers was achieved. Parameters influencing enantioseparation including mobile phase, organic additive and chemical nature of the chiral selector found to be highly influencing on the enantiomeric separation were investigated. Chiral recognition mechanism(s) are also presented.

High-performance enantiomer separation of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) by 3 μm reversed-phase chiral columns and application to the optical purity testing of naproxen drug substances and its formulations

The enantiomer separation of five nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), such as ibuprofen, ketoprofen (KP) and naproxen (NX), which are included in The Japanese Pharmacopoeia 16th edition (JP16), was investigated by employing four kinds of 3 μm reversed-phase chiral columns (AD-3R, AS-3R, OD-3R and OJ-3R). Except for KP, the enantiomers of four NSAIDs were successfully separated by one of the four columns. Among five NSAIDs, only NX has been used as a single enantiomer (S-form, active form) in the clinical field (JP16); therefore, optical purity testing method of NX is required for its quality evaluation. Among four CSPs, the method was developed by using an AS-3R column, which showed good enantioselectivity for NX enantiomers. By optimizing the conditions, the resolution (Rs) of 2.55 was obtained for NX enantiomers within approximately 6 min. The minor enantiomer R-form eluted before the main active enantiomer S-form. Finally, the developed method was applied to the optical purity testing of NX active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), and its formulations (tablet and capsule). Other than the minor enantiomer (R-form, inactive form, 0.21 - 0.78%), normal (not chiral) impurities at levels of 0.01-0.3% were simultaneously separated and determined by the method, showing an excellent separation capability of the method for those impurities including the minor enantiomer. The content uniformity test of the NX tablet according to JP16 was also successfully performed by the method with the AS-3R column. Normal phase separation with two chiral columns (AD-H and OD-H) and capillary electrophoretic (CE) separation were also investigated for five NSAIDs enantiomers to discuss the enantioselectivity.