Determination of tetracycline and its major degradation products by liquidchromatography with fluorescence detection

A liquid chromatographic method of tetracycline and its major degradation p roducts on a C-8-reversed phase column with acidic mobile phase and fluores cence detection is described. The quantification limit, measured as the amo unt of sample that gave a signal ten times the peak-to-peak noise of the ba seline, was: 0.25 ng for tetracycline (TC) and epitetracycline (ETC), 25 ng for and 4-epianhydrotetracycline (EATC) and 50 ng for anhydrotetracycline (ATC) of injected standard. By means of this liquid chromatography (LC) ass ay TC, ETC, EATC and ATC as main degradation products of tetracycline, can be separated and determined with good sensitivity and specificity within 15 min. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.