Determination of chlorthalidone and clonidine hydrochloride in tablets by HPLC

A rapid, reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatographic method is described for the determination of chlorthalidone and clonidine hydrochloride combinations in tablets. Individual tablets or composite samples were sonicated in water, diluted with methanol, and filtered prior to chromatographing. Chlorthalidone, formulated at 15 mg/tablet, was chromatographed on octadecylsilyl-bonded, 5 to 6-micrometers, spherical silica with 50% methanol in water mobile phase. Clonidine hydrochloride, formulated at 0.1 or 0.2 mg/tablet, was chromatographed on trimethylsilyl-bonded, 5 to 6-micrometers, spherical silica with 65% methanol in pH 7.9 phosphate buffer mobile phase. Both were determined with a spectrophotometric detector at 254 nm. Mean recoveries of the drugs from six synthetic tablet samples were 100.3% for chlorthalidone and 99.7% for clonidine hydrochloride (at 0.1 mg/tablet level) with coefficients of variation of 0.79 and 1.55%, respectively.