ABSTRACT
An amperometric flow-through detector with a carbon paste working electrode was utilized as a high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) detector to determine procarbazine hydrochloride, an antineoplastic agent, in both buffer solution and biological fluids. The HPLC system included an amino-cyano stationary phase and an aqueous (pH 7)-methanolic mobile phase which enabled the separation of procarbazine from its only electroactive degradation product, N-isopropyl-alpha-(2-methylhydrazono)-p-toluamide. The electrochemical detector, with an approximate limit of detection of 2 ng procarbazine injected, was 20 times more sensitive to procarbazine than a typical UV detector. The low dead volume (1 microliter) and superior selectivity of the electrochemical detector enabled the HPLC determination of procarbazine in untreated human urine and plasma.
Subject(s)
Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid/methods , Procarbazine/blood , Humans , Procarbazine/urineABSTRACT
A review of the theory, applications, and advantages and disadvantages of the major types of electrochemical detectors in flowing systems is presented in this report.