Sensitive high-pressure liquid chromatographic determination of propranolol in plasma

A high-pressure liquid chromatographic method is presented for the determination of propranolol in human plasma. A reversed-phase cyanopropylsilane column was utilized with a liquid phase consisting of 70% acetonitrile and 30% 0.02 M acetate buffer, pH 7.0. A spectrofluorometric detector with an excitation wavelength of 276 nm and an emission filter with a 340-nm cutoff provided a detectable peak for 0.8 ng of propranolol/injection with this system. The reproducibility and precision of the method are shown from the analyses of samples containing 10--150 ng/ml of plasma.