CE versus HPLC for the dissolution test in a pharmaceutical formulation containing acetaminophen, phenylephrine and chlorpheniramine

A new polar reverse phase stationary phase has permitted our group to develop and validate an isocratic HPLC method for the simultaneous determination of acetaminophen, phenylephrine and chlorpheniramine in capsules as pharmaceutical formulation after their dissolution test. Final optimised chromatographic conditions employed a Supelco Discovery® HS PEG column (polyethylene glycol), 5 μm, 15 cm x 0.46 cm. The mobile phase was 20 mM phosphate buffer at pH 7.0/acetonitrile 80:20 (v/v) at a flow rate of I ml/min. UV detection was performed at 210 nm for phenylephrine and chlorpheniramine and at 305 nm for acetaminophen. On the other hand, to evaluate the capability of CE to work in a routine analytical method fulfilling the pharmaceutical requirements and to study the behaviour of the technique with these compounds, we developed a CE method with the same objective. Normal and reverted polarity. the pH and concentration of the buffer, and the presence and concentration of surfactants were assayed. Forty millimolar phosphate buffer at pH 6.20 with 0.5 mM SDS at 30 kV in an uncoated silica capillary provided a runtime of 4.5 min to separate the three analytes and the excipients. Moreover, parameters affecting precision in CE, such as the injection of buffer after the sample to refill the capillary were also tested. After development, the validation was performed in parallel for HPLC and CE with the same standards and samples to avoid differences due to the manipulation. The validation parameters of both techniques were adequate for the intended purpose.