Detection of iron(III) chelate separated by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography

A reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatographic method for the analysis of iron(III)-N, N'-trimethylenebis[2-(2-hydroxyl-5-ethyl-phenyl)glycine] (Fe(TM-5-ethyl-PHPG)-), which is potentially used as effective hepatobiliary magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast agent, has been developed in this study. The effect of mobile phase, such as the varied pH values, ion-pairing agents and concentration of the ion-pairing agent on the capacity factor of the diastereomers and free ligand, were investigated to improve the separation and peak shape. HPLC in connection with a ion exchange column and a UV/VIS detector can be used to determine metal ion dissociated from this complex. This protocol can be successfully used in the quality assay of the synthesized potential MRI contrast agent of [Fe(TM-5-ethyl-PHPG)-].