Hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography method development and validation for the assay of HEPES zwitterionic...

HEPES is a zwitterionic buffer component used as a raw material in the GMP-manufacturing of advanced therapy medicinal products (ATMPs), hence requiring an adequate assay method with sufficient selectivity toward related impurities. Therefore, a hydrophilic interaction chromatography (HILIC) method was developed. Different factors were investigated towards the retention behavior of HEPES, its analogue EPPS and its starting material isethionate: pH, ion concentration and organic solvent ratio of the mobile phase, as well as column temperature. Moreover, stress testing resulted in the N-oxide degradant, identified by high resolution MS. The final method consisted of an isocratic system with an aqueous (pH 2.0 with H₃PO₄) acetonitrile (35:65, v/v) mobile phase on a zwitterionic HILIC (Obelisc N) column with a flow rate of 0.5mL/min and UV detection at 195nm. The assay method of HEPES was validated, obtaining adequate linearity (R²=0.999), precision (RSD of 0.5%) and accuracy (recovery of 100.08%). Finally, the applicability of the validated method was demonstrated by analysis of samples from different suppliers.