A SIMPLIFIED METHOD FOR THE DETERMINATION OF TAXANES IN YEW NEEDLES BY REVERSED-PHASE (C-18) HIGH-PRESSURE LIQUID-CHROMATOGRAPHY

An analytical procedure for the large-scale qualitative and quantitati ve screening of paclitaxel (Taxoi(R)) and related neutral taxanes in y ew needles has been developed, The needles were selectively extracted with ethanol:water:acetic acid (80:19:1) and the resulting extract was purified from chlorophyll, 3,5-dimethoxy phenol, taxine alkaloids and cinnamoyl taxanes, by means of small-scale partition chromatography o n Extrelut(R), After concentration, the taxanes were determined by hig h pressure liquid chromatography on a C-18 column with acetonitrile:wa ter as eluent and ultra violet detection at 227 and 280 nm, Cinnamic a cid was used as an internal standard, Various aspects such as extracti on efficiency, recovery, peak purity, detection limits, robustness and reproducibility of the method have been evaluated, The methods is ver y labour efficient with only 20 min of manpower input per sample. (C) 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.