Determination of phenyltoloxamine salicylamide, caffeine, paracetamol, codeine and phenacetin by HPLC

A reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatographic method for the determination of six common analgesics (phenyltoloxamine dihydrogen citrate, salicylamide, caffeine, paracetamol, codeine phosphate and phenacetin) is presented. The method is specific for detection and determination of each of these compounds in a complex mixture, without pretreatment. A 10-mum C(18) silica gel stationary phase is used with a methanol-acetonitrile-water-tetrahydrofuran mixture (20:20:55:5 v/v) and spectrophotometric detection at 254 nm. All six components are eluted within 7 min. The method has given good results for three commercial products containing two, three and five active ingredients respectively. Phenacetin, a common analgesic which might be found in other formulations, is used as an internal standard.