New enhanced spectrofluorimetric approach for picogram detection of Fenoterol hydrobromide through Von Pechman synthesis of coumarins.

A new, specific, precise and very sensitive spectrofluorimetric methodology has been established and approved for determination of Fenoterol hydrobromide (FEN) in its pharmaceutical forms and spiked plasma. The strategy utilized the phenolic nature of FEN and its capacity to undergo Von Pechman synthesis of coumarin. In this study, Fenoterol hydrobromide reacts with ethyl acetoacetate in presence of concentrated sulfuric acid to form an extremely fluorescent coumarin derivative measured at 480 nm (λex: 420 nm). Different reaction variables affecting development and stability of the formed coumarin derivative were precisely examined and enhanced to guarantee greatest sensitivity of the strategy. The recommended procedure was found to obey Beer's law in concentration range of (300-2000) pg mL-1 with quantitation limit 130 pg mL-1, revealing high sensitivity of the suggested method. The proposed procedure was completely examined and approved through the ICH guidelines and was efficiently applied for the determination of the cited drug in spiked plasma and its dosage forms.

Investigation of ractopamine molecularly imprinted stir bar sorptive extraction and its application for trace analysis of beta2-agonists in complex samples.

In this paper, a novel molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) coated stir bar with ractopamine as template by glass capillary filling with magnetic core as substrate was prepared reproducibly. The ractopamine MIP coating was homogeneous and porous with the average thickness of 20.6 microm. The extraction apparatus for the stir bar was improved to avoid coating loss. The MIP-coated stir bar showed better extraction capacity and good selectivity than that of non-imprinted polymer (NIP) coated stir bar to ractopamine and its analogues. The extraction capacities of ractopamine, isoxsuprine, clenbuterol and fenoterol for MIP-coated stir bar were 3.3, 3.1, 2.8 and 2.4 times as much as that of the NIP coated stir bar, respectively. The MIP-coated stir bars could be used at least 40 times without apparent damage and kept in dried air for 8 months without reduce of extraction ability. A method for the determination of beta(2)-agonists in complex samples by MIP-coated stir bar sorptive extraction coupled with high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was developed. The linear ranges were 0.5-40 microg/L for ractopamine and 1.0-40 microg/L for isoxsuprine and clenbuterol. The detection limits were within the range of 0.10-0.21 microg/L. The method was successfully applied to the analysis of beta(2)-agonists in spiked pork, liver and feed samples with the recoveries of 83.7-92.3%, 80.5-90.2% and 73.6-86.2%, respectively. The RSDs was within 2.9-8.1%. The method is very suitable for the determination of trace beta(2)-agonists in pork, liver and feed samples.

Rapid analysis of clenbuterol, salbutamol, procaterol, and fenoterol in pharmaceuticals and human urine by capillary electrophoresis.

Capillary electrophoresis (CE) with UV detection for the simultaneous and short-time analysis of clenbuterol, salbutamol, procaterol, fenoterol is described and validated. Optimized conditions were found to be a 10 mmoll(-1) borate buffer (pH 10.0), an separation voltage of 19 kV, and a separation temperature of 32 degrees C. Detection was set at 205 nm. Under the optimized conditions, analyses of the four analytes in pharmaceutical and human urine samples were carried out in approximately 1 min. The interference of the sample matrix was not observed. The LOD (limits of detection) defined at S/N of 3:1 was found between 0.5 and 2.0 mgl(-1) for the analytes. The linearity of the detector response was within the range from 2.0 to 30 mgl(-1) with correlation coefficient >0.996.

Spectrophotometric determination of fenoterol hydrobromide in pure form and dosage forms.

A sensitive and rapid spectrophotometric procedure has been investigated for the determination of fenoterol either per se or in pharmaceutical preparations. The proposed procedure is based on the reaction between the drug and 4-chloro-7-nitrobenzo-2-oxa-1,3-diazole (NBD-Cl) at pH 7.2, using borate buffer, to produce a yellow adduct. The latter has maximum absorbance at 400 nm and obeys Beer's law within the concentration range 5-30 microg/ml. Regression analysis of the calibration data showed a good correlation coefficient (r=0.9996) with minimum detection limit of 0.24 microg/ml (6.2 x 10(-8) M). The proposed procedure has been successfully applied to the determination of this drug in its tablets and in syrup, the mean percent recoveries were 97.45+/-0.59 and 98.7+/-0.64%, respectively. The results obtained are in good agreement with those given using a reference method. The pharmaceutical additives other than active ingredient did not interfere. A proposal of the reaction pathway has been postulated.

Screening of beta-2 agonists and confirmation of fenoterol, orciprenaline, reproterol and terbutaline with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry as tetrahydroisoquinoline derivatives.

A new method for a comprehensive screening and confirmation of beta-2 agonists in human urine is presented based on gas chromatography-low-resolution mass spectrometry (GC-MS) using electron impact ionisation (EI). After hydrolysis of the conjugates with beta-glucuronidase/arylsulfatase a derivatisation step with formaldehyde converts fenoterol, orciprenaline, reproterol and terbutaline to one derivative, a tetrahydroisoquinoline, while the other beta-2 agonists remain unchanged. Liquid-liquid extraction and trimethylsilylation follow. The tetrahydroisoquinoline derivatives show good gas chromatographic and mass spectrometric behaviour. The detection limit of these four beta-2 agonists in the screening using low-resolution mass spectrometry is 10 ng/ml of urine. The other beta-2 agonists are detected as parent compounds with the same recovery after sample preparation with and without formaldehyde. The EI mass spectra of the tetrahydroisoquinoline derivatives are presented.

Chip-based capillary electrophoresis with an electrodeless nanospray interface.

A sheathless and electrodeless nanospray interface has been used to interface a polycarbonate capillary electrophoresis (CE) chip to a mass spectrometer (MS). The chip was made of two flat polycarbonate plates which were bolted together. Channels were imprinted in one of the plates with metal wires, using a hydraulic press. A short tapered capillary connected to the chip was used as the nanospray emitter. The advantage of this electrodeless interface is that it was not necessary to apply a electrospray voltage to the chip or the nanospray emitter. Instead, the CE voltage already applied to the buffer compartment on the chip, to drive the electrophoresis, was used to generate the spray also. A low conductivity buffer of 1.25 mmol/L ammonium acetate in 80% methanol was used to obtain a large electric field across the buffer channel. The performance of the device was evaluated by analyzing a mixture of three beta-agonists Relative standard deviation (RSD) values obtained were between 4.8 and 5.0%. A sample concentration of 40 nmol/L resulted in a signal-to-noise ratio of 2 to 5 for the different components. Compared to a conventional CE analysis in a fused silica capillary with UV detection, only a minor loss of resolution was observed, which can be attributed to the design of the chip.

Application of a Nafion-modified carbon paste electrode for the absorptive stripping voltammetric determination of fenoterol in pharmaceutical preparations and biological fluids.

The preconcentration of fenoterol on a Nafion-modified carbon paste electrode and its subsequent determination using differential pulse voltammetry is described. The effect of pH and percentage Nafion concentration on the accumulation behaviour of fenoterol was studied, and accumulation curves, calibration graphs and reproducibility studies at two different Nafion concentrations have been carried out in the range 2.5 x 10(-8)-5.0 x 10(-7) M fenoterol. A limit of detection in aqueous solutions, calculated using a signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) of 3, was 9.0 x 10(-9) M. Application of the electrode to pharmaceutical preparations, without sample pretreatment, resulted in acceptable deviation from the stated concentration (RSD = +/- 3.81%, n = 4). For more complex matrices, a suitable extraction procedure was developed, resulting in recoveries of > 90% (urine) and > 75% (serum).

High-performance liquid chromatographic assay for the simultaneous determination of ipratropium bromide, fenoterol, salbutamol and terbutaline in nebulizer solution.

A reversed-phase ion-pair high-performance liquid chromatography assay was developed for the simultaneous determination of ipratropium bromide, fenoterol hydrobromide, salbutamol sulphate and terbutaline sulphate in nebulizer solution. Chromatographic separation was achieved with a Nova-Pak C18 4 microns 10 cm x 8 mm i.d. Radial-pak cartridge inside a Waters RCM 8 x 10 compression module using ternary gradient analysis. Detection was performed using UV detection at 220 nm. The standard curves were linear over the following ranges: ipratropium bromide 20.8-250.0 micrograms ml-1, fenoterol hydrobromide 27.8-500.0 micrograms ml-1, salbutamol sulphate 34.7-2500.0 micrograms ml-1 and terbutaline sulphate 69.5-2500 micrograms ml-1. Inter-day and intra-day relative standard deviations for each compound ranged from 4.5-5.2% and 3.5-3.9%, respectively. The assay procedure was developed to allow the accurate determination of constituents in various combinations of nebulizer solution, as well as for stability indicating purposes. This provides a convenient means of testing long-term compatibility and stability following the post-manufacture mixing of commonly used nebulized preparations.

Coulometric determination of some antiasthmatics.

A simple and rapid method for the assay of microquantities of fenoterol hydrobromide, orciprenaline sulphate and terbutaline sulphate in pure state and various pharmaceutical formulations, is presented. The method is based on the coulometric titration of the investigated compounds with electrogenerated chlorine in the presence of methyl orange as indicator. The method requires a simple apparatus and gives accurate and reproducible results.

Comparison of isotachophoresis, capillary zone electrophoresis and high-performance liquid chromatography for the determination of salbutamol, terbutaline sulphate and fenoterol hydrobromide in pharmaceutical dosage forms.

Reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC), isotachophoresis (ITP) and capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) were applied to the determination of salbutamol, terbutaline sulphate and fenoterol hydrobromide in commercially available pharmaceutical dosage forms. The comparison showed that especially with the use of ITP, high concentrations of other charged sample components can disturb the separation process. If special attention is paid to ensure a complete separation, all methods give comparable results. For the regression lines of the calibration graphs, regression coefficients of at least ca. 0.999 and nearly zero intercepts are obtained with relative standard deviations of ca. 1-2% for peak area or zone lengths. By applying the different techniques, often different components of the sample matrix can be detected, i.e., a more complete impression of the sample composition can be obtained by using all the three techniques.

Radioimmunological determination of fenoterol. Part II: Antiserum and tracer for the determination of fenoterol.

A radioimmunological method for the determination of the concentration of fenoterol in biological samples is described. The mixture of antibodies against the enantiomers of fenoterol obtained with the selected hapten shows a high affinity for racemic fenoterol and for the monoiodo125-fenoterol used as a tracer, which is also present as a racemate. The limit of detection of the radioimmunoassay for fenoterol (racemate) in biological samples (plasma, urine) is 10-20 pg/ml. The precision and accuracy of the radioimmunoassay, in the presence of racemic fenoterol, are sufficient for an analysis and meaningful interpretation of samples from human pharmacokinetic studies. A relationship between the cross-reactivity of the antibodies against fenoterol and a preferred conformation of the fenoterol molecule in aqueous solution is discussed.

Radioimmunological determination of fenoterol. Part I: Theoretical fundamentals.

A general solution is given for the system of equations describing coupled mass equilibria having m antibodies with one binding site, or with several mutually independent binding sites of equal intrinsic affinity (immunoglobulin (Ig) G antibodies) and n monovalent antigens. Based on this a formula is given with which it is possible to calculate the minimum association constant of the antibody and the minimum specific radioactivity of the tracer in a radioimmunoassay when the detection limit is given and the assay conditions are established. The model m = 2 and n = 4 describes the behaviour of a system which is based on a mixture of stereoselective antibodies and a racemic tracer. The effect of the enantiomer ratio of an optically active ligand on this system is demonstrated.