A rapid LC method for the identification and determination of CNS drugs inpharmaceutical formulations

Antidepressant, neuroleptic and antiepileptic drugs were identified and det ermined in pharmaceutical formulations (tablets,, capsules and oral solutio ns) by a rapid high-performance liquid chromatography method. The sample pr etreatment consisted of a one-step extraction, filtration and dilution. The chromatographic conditions were: reversed-phase C8 column (150 x 4.6 mm i. d,, 5 mu m); acetonitrile-tetramethylammonium perchlorate aqueous solution (pH 2.8; 12.6 mM) (45:55, v/v) as the mobile phase; detection wavelength, 2 30 nm. Calibration curves were linear in the 100-1000 ng ml(-1) range for a ll tested drugs except for phenobarbital. The repeatability (or intra-day p recision), expressed by the relative standard deviation, was better than 2. 0%. The accuracy, resulting from recovery studies, was between 98.1 and 101 .3%. The amount of drug found agreed with the declared content within the l imits specified by United States Pharmacopeia and British Pharmacopeia. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.