A novel HPLC fluorescence method for the quantification of methylphenidate in human plasma

A number of analytical methods have been established to quantify methylphenidate (MPH). However, to date no HPLC methods are applicable to human pharmacokinetic studies without the use of mass spectrometry (MS) detection. We developed a sensitive and reliable HPLC-fluorescence method for the determination of MPH in human plasma using 4-(4,5-diphenyl-1H-imidazol-2-yl) benzoyl chloride (DIB-Cl) as the derivatizing agent. An established GC-MS method was adopted in this study as a comparator assay. MPH was derivatized using DIB-Cl, and separated isocratically on a C18 column using a HPLC system with fluorescence detection (lambda(ex)=330 nm, lambda(em)=460 nm). The lower limit of quantification was found to be 1 ng/mL. A linear calibration curve was obtained over the concentrations ranging from 1 ng/mL to 80 ng/mL (r=0.998). The relative standard deviations of intra-day and inter-day variations were