Separation and analysis of trace degradants in a pharmaceutical formulation using on-line capillary isotachophoresis-NMR.

NMR spectroscopy is widely used in the pharmaceutical industry for the structure elucidation of pharmaceutical impurities, especially when coupled to a separation method, such as HPLC. However, NMR has relatively poor sensitivity compared with other techniques such as mass spectrometry, limiting its applicability in impurity analyses. This limitation is addressed here through the on-line coupling of microcoil NMR with capillary isotachophoresis (cITP), a separation method that can concentrate dilute components by 2-3 orders of magnitude. With this approach, 1H NMR spectra can be acquired for microgram (nanomole) quantities of trace impurities in a complex sample matrix. cITP-NMR was used in this work to isolate and detect 4-aminophenol (PAP) in an acetaminophen sample spiked at the 0.1% level, with no interference from the parent compound. Analysis of an acetaminophen thermal degradation sample revealed resonances of several degradation products in addition to PAP, confirming the effectiveness of on-line cITP-NMR for trace analyses of pharmaceutical formulations. Subsequent LC-MS/MS analysis provided complementary information for the structure elucidation of the unknown degradation products, which were dimers formed during the degradation process.

Visualizing ion electromigration during isotachophoretic separations with capillary isotachophoresis-NMR.

Sample stacking techniques in electrophoresis are gaining popularity due to their ability to provide improved sensitivity and separation efficiency. The principles behind sample stacking and electrophoretic migration have been studied extensively. Nevertheless, there are still a number of observations and descriptions of ionic boundaries and migration modes for which the underlying principles are not yet fully understood. For example, the behavior of capillary isotachophoresis (cITP) systems that exhibit self-sharpening effects can be complex, especially when the buffer systems contain many ionic components. In this work, cITP coupled with 1H NMR detection is used to study electrophoretic migration of ions in both anionic and cationic cITP. A significant advantage of 1H NMR over other detection methods is the high specificity of this method, allowing detection of individual buffer and analyte constituents within the migration zones.

Separation and analysis of nanomole quantities of heparin oligosaccharides using on-line capillary isotachophoresis coupled with NMR detection.

Glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) are important in a number of biological processes and are structurally altered in many pathological conditions. The complete determination of GAG primary structures has been hampered by the lack of sensitive and specific analytical techniques. Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR) is a powerful tool for GAG structure elucidation despite its relatively poor limits of detection. Solenoidal microcoils have greatly enhanced the mass limits of detection of NMR, enabling the on-line coupling of microseparation and concentration techniques such as capillary isotachophoresis (cITP), which can separate and concentrate analytes by 2-3 orders of magnitude. We have successfully used cITP coupled with on-line NMR detection to separate and concentrate nanomole quantities of heparin oligosaccharides. This sensitive on-line measurement approach has the potential to provide new insights into the relationships between biological function and GAG microstructures.

Insights into cyclodextrin interactions during sample stacking using capillary isotachophoresis with on-line microcoil NMR detection.

On-line capillary isotachophoresis (cITP)-NMR experiments were used to probe the interactions of the pharmaceutical compounds S-alprenolol, S-atenolol, R-propranolol, R-salbutamol and S-terbutaline with beta-cyclodextrin (beta-CD) during cITP concentration. In cITP, ionic analytes are concentrated and separated on the basis of their electrophoretic mobility. Because neutral molecules have an electrophoretic mobility of zero, they are normally not concentrated or separated in electrophoretic experiments like cITP. Most of the analytes studied were concentrated by cITP sample stacking by a factor of around 300. For analytes that formed a strong inclusion complex, beta-CD co-concentrated during cITP sample stacking. However, once the focusing process was complete, a discrete diffusional boundary formed between the cITP-focused analyte band and the leading and trailing electrolyte, which restricted diffusion into and out of the analyte band.