Capillary electrophoresis of baclofen with argon-ion laser-induced fluorescence detection

A capillary electrophoretic method with laser-induced fluorescence detection for baclofen (4-amino-3-p-chlorophenylbutyric acid) has been developed. 6-Carboxyfluorescein succinimidyl ester was used for precolumn derivatization of the non-fluorescent drug. Optimal separation and detection were obtained with an electrophoretic buffer of 50 mM sodium borate (pH 9.5) and an air-cooled argon-ion laser (excitation at 488 nm, emission at 520 nm). Linearity (r > or = 0.99) over three orders of magnitude was generally obtained and the lowest derivatizable concentration limit for baclofen in aqueous solution was 10 nM (2 ng baclofen/ml). Coupled with a simple clean up procedure, the method can be applied to the analysis of baclofen in human plasma at micromolar level. Recovery of spiked baclofen in plasma was 95%. The relative standard deviation values on peak size (0.5 microM level) and migration time were 8.2 and 1.0% (n=7), respectively. The limit of detection of baclofen in plasma was 0.1 microM (21 ng/ml).