Development of an analytical method for the evaluation of N,N-dimethylformamide in dosage form design

N,N-Dimethylformamide (DMF) is a well-known chemical entity that is extensively used for pharmaceutical, biomedical and chemical applications. Previous research identified the need for the development of an effective dosage form for the systemic delivery of DMF due to its unique antiviral properties. For purposes of quality control and evaluation during pharmaceutical product development, development of an analytical method was required. A gas chromatographic (GC) method was developed with a flame-ionization detector (FID) on a carbowax packed glass column. 2-Methoxyethanol was used as internal standard. The analytical method proved to be capable of separating DMF and 2-methoxyethanol adequately within a relatively short runtime of 2.5 min. The analytical method described was primarily developed for use in dissolution studies of DMF containing delivery systems. Various physicochemical properties of candidate internal standard materials were correlated with the observed retention times of these compounds. The best correlation (r2 = 0.8077) was obtained between the boiling point and the retention time of the compounds for the current application. The boiling point of an internal standard candidate material may thereforebe useful in predicting the retention time of that compound under similar conditions.