Determination of dextromethorphan hydrobromide by high-performance liquid chromatography using ion-pair formation

Area of Science:

• Analytical Chemistry
• Pharmaceutical Analysis

Background:

• Dextromethorphan hydrobromide is a widely used antitussive agent.
• Understanding its chromatographic behavior is crucial for accurate pharmaceutical analysis.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the chromatographic retention of dextromethorphan hydrobromide.
• To develop an analytical method for its quantification in bulk drug and syrup formulations.

Main Methods:

• Utilized octadecylsilane (ODS) columns for chromatography.
• Varied pairing ion chain length and mobile phase composition (acetonitrile concentration).

Main Results:

• Retention factor significantly increased with longer pairing ions (>8 carbons).
• Decreasing acetonitrile concentration in the mobile phase enhanced retention.
• Similar trends observed for other pharmaceutically relevant amines.

Conclusions:

• Chromatographic retention is highly dependent on ion-pairing agents and mobile phase composition.
• Developed and applied a robust analytical method for dextromethorphan hydrobromide analysis.
• Findings applicable to quality control of pharmaceutical products.