Analysis and enantioresolution of donepezil by capillary electrophoresis

The analysis of donepezil, a centrally acting acetylcholine esterase inhibi tor, is described by a CZE method suitable for applications in pharmaceutic al held. A rapid migration of the analyte was obtained under acidic conditi ons (pH 3.0); with detection wavelength of 320 nm a LOD of 0.8 x 10(-3) mg/ ml was provided. Applications on real sample (pharmaceuticals) were carried out using two different instruments with comparable results in terms of re producibility and accuracy, The use of chiral selectors in the running buff er allowed the enantioseparation of donepezil; charged cyclodextrins (carbo xymethyl-beta -cyclodextrin and sulfated-beta -cyclodextrin) were suitable for the chiral resolution of the analyte, Interesting results were also obt ained using human serum albumin. The protein-based CE enantioseparation was carried out at pH 7.4 avoiding the partial filling technique due to the go od absorptivity of donepezil at 320 nm. Interestingly, the use of bicine as BGE provided a significative improvement in the enantioresolution compared to that obtained by phosphate buffer. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All r ights reserved.