Determination of tianeptine in tablets by high-performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection

A sensitive and selective high-performance liquid chromatographic method has been developed for the determination of tianeptine (Tia) in tablets. The method is based on derivatization of Tia with 4-chloro-7-nitrobenzofurazan (NBD-CI). A mobile phase consisting of acetonitrile-10 mM orthophosphoric acid (pH 2.5; 77 + 23) was used at a flow rate of 1 mL/min on a C18 column. The Tia-NBD derivative was monitored using a fluorescence detector, with emission set at 520 nm and excitation at 458 nm. Gabapentin was selected as an internal standard. Linear calibration graphs were obtained in the concentration range of 45-300 ng/mL. The lower limit of detection (LOD) was 10 ng/mL at a signal-to-noise ratio of 4. The lower limit of quantitation (LOQ) was 45 ng/mL. The relative standard values for intra- and interday precision were <0.46 and <0.57%, respectively. The recovery of the drug samples ranged between 98.89 and 99.85%. No chromatographic interference from the tablet excipients was found. The proposed method was validated in terms of precision, robustness, recovery, LOD, and LOQ. All the validation parameters were within the acceptance range. The proposed method was applied for the determination of Tia in commercially available tablets. The results were compared with those obtained by an ultraviolet spectrophotometric method using t- and F-tests.