Determination of acarbose by capillary zone electrophoresis

Acarbose (Glucobay, Bayer AG) acts as a potent alpha-glucosidase-inhibitor, which delays the intestinal starch digestion resulting in a reduction of postprandial blood glucose and insulin levels. Acarbose is a pseudo-tetrasaccharide, with two D-glucose units linked via an alpha 1-->4 glycosidic bond to acarviosin, which is a N-glycoside composed of an unsaturated cyclitol and 4-amino-4,6-dideoxy-alpha-D-glucopyranose. Several methods for the determination of acarbose by capillary electrophoresis can be found in literature. They are based either on the derivatisation with 7-aminonaphthalene-1,3-disulfonic acid (ANDS) or on the detection of the unsaturated cyclitol at wavelengths below 200 nm. The aim of our work was the determination of acarbose making use of a previously developed method based on reductive amination with S-phenylethylamine. The aminoalditols generated in the reaction formed differently charged borate-complexes depending on the configuration of the sugar. After successful method optimisation we were able to separate two potential impurities of acarbose, D-maltose und D-glucose. For the quantitation of acarbose in Glucobay tablets an additional borate-buffer system was established, reducing the total time of analysis to less than 10 min.