Stereoselective high-performance liquid chromatographic assay for pirmenol enantiomers in dog plasma

Pirmenol enantiomers in dog plasma were quantified using a stereospecific high-performance liquid chromatographic method with ultraviolet detection at 262 nm. Racemic pirmenol and internal standard, (+)-propranolol, were isolated from dog plasma by a three-step extraction procedure using toluene, 0.1 M hydrochloric acid and hexane, respectively. A chiral analytical column (Chiralcel OJ) was used with a mobile phase consisting of hexane-isopropanol-diethylamine (98.9:1.0:0.1). Linear calibration curves were obtained in the concentration range 0.0200-5.00 micrograms/ml for each enantiomer. Precision of the method, expressed as coefficient of variation for nine quality control samples, was 7.1% for (+)-pirmenol and 6.4% for (-)-pirmenol. Bias was +/- 2.2% for (+)-pirmenol and +/- 1.5% for (-)-pirmenol in quality control samples.