Reverse-phase liquid chromatographic analysis of cephalosporins

A simple and rapid reverse-phase liquid chromatographic method was developed for the qualitative and quantitative analysis of 13 cephalosporin compounds. A mixture of cefaclor, cefadroxil, cefamandole nafate, cefamandole sodium, cefazolin, cefoperazone, cefotaxime, cefoxitin, ceftizoxime, cephalothin, cephalexin, cephapirin, and cephradine was resolved into its components in raw material and dosage form samples by using a C18 column, a methanol-water-acetic acid (30 + 70 + 0.1) mobile phase, and a UV detector set at 254 nm. The proposed method is suited both for the determination of cephalosporins in a wide variety of commercial dosage forms and for the investigation of related compounds and other impurities in samples of 7 of the cephalosporins.