Determination of antihistamines in pharmaceuticals by capillary electrophoresis

Capillary electrophoresis with on-column UV detection at 214 nm was used to separate a group of nine antihistamines. All these compounds were satisfactorily separated within ca. 6 min using a mixed carrier system containing sodium dodecyl sulphate with beta-cyclodextrin and tetrabutylammonium hydrogensulphate as modifiers. The application of the method to the determination of the amount of antihistamines present in commercial pharmaceutical samples was demonstrated. In addition, the migration behaviour of the antihistamines in the mixed carrier system was examined.