Stability indicating HPLC-UV method for determination of dapoxetine HCl in pharmaceutical product

A stability-indicating HPLC-UV method for the determination of dapoxetine hydrochloride in solution and pharmaceutical product was developed. The mobile phase was composed of acetonitrile and 0.2 M ammonium acetate buffer at 50 : 50 ratio. The chromatographic parameters, theoretical plates (N), tailing factor (T), capacity factor (k') and peak asymmetry factor (As) were calculated. Stress degradation studies, namely, acid, alkali, oxidation, heat and UV light, were performed. The analyte was eluted at 5.8 min using gradient system at a flow rate of 1.5 mL/min. The theoretical plates count was > 2000, tailing factor < 1.54, capacity factor > 5.38 and peak asymmetry factor was < 1.10. The method was linear from 1 to 40 microg/mL with a correlation coefficient of 0.9994. The intraday precision and accuracy values were 0.14-1.54% and 0.63-1.83%, respectively. On the other hand, the interday precision and accuracy results were 0.49-1.83% and 1.15-1.85%, respectively. The drug solution was stable at ambient room temperature (26 degrees C) for 48 h. Dapoxetine HCI was found susceptible to oxidation and degraded slightly under acid and alkali conditions but was stable under UV light and heat. No interference from tablet excipiets and degradation products was found. Hence, the method can be employed as a stability-indicating method for the determination of dapoxetine HCl in pharmaceutical products.