Direct chiral separation of troglitazone stereoisomers using reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography

A simple HPLC method for the direct chiral separation of troglitazone stereoisomers was developed. The separation was performed on a reversed-phase cellulose-derivertized chiral column (Chiralcel OJ-R) using a mobile phase consisting of methanol-acetic acid (1000:1, v/v) at a flow rate of 0.5 ml/min. The peak areas of stereoisomers separated from 0.13 to 0.75 mg/ml of troglitazone had good linearity, with correlation coefficients > 0.999 in the reversed-phase mode. The repeatability of the ratios of stereoisomers isolated from 0.5 mg/ml of troglitazone had a relative standard deviation of 0.1-0.2%. The relative sensitivities of the four isomers at UV 285 nm were similar, as each response factor was within the range of 0.99-1.01. Troglitazone racemized at the chiral center of the thiazolidine ring in methanol solution, but was found to be stable for 24 h in methanol-acetic acid (1000:1, v/v). This method was applied to the stereoisomeric analysis of troglitazone in pharmaceutical formulations and used to evaluate the constancy of the stereoisomer ratio in the manufacturing process and stability testing.