ANALYSIS FOR EPHEDRINE ALKALOID UTILIZING ISOCRATIC HIGH PERFORMANCE LIQUID CHROMATOGRAPHY

*Ronald Bartzatt and Purnima Gajmer

ABSTRACT

A method to assay ephedrine hemihydrate (ephedrine alkaloid), which has various biological activities, is presented using isocratic high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Elution of the analyte is detected with ultraviolet light detector, set at 255 nm. The stock solution of this ephedrine alkaloid was prepared in solvent conditions that consisted of 10% ethanol (v/v) and 90% water (v/v), at a concentration of 7.1568 x 10-2 molar. The test samples of ephedrine hemihydrate that were injected into HPLC instrument were mainly in a solvent that consisted of 90% (v/v) water and 10% ethanol (v/v). The solvent utilized for column of the HPLC instrument was 5% ethanol, 1% glacial acetic acid (v/v), and 94% water (v/v). The limit of detection (LOD) was found to be 2.9833 x 10-5 molar and the limit of quantitation (LOQ) was found to be 8.9500 x 10-5 molar. A standard curve presented showed a coefficient of determination of R2 = 0.9857, which indicates that the model describes 98.57% variance in the dependent variable (peak area) that is predictable from the independent variable (molar concentration). The Pearson r correlation coefficient of this standard curve is 0.9928, indicating very high positive correlation. Ephedrine hemihydrate is assayed from matrixes that are utilized in the administration of this drug, including water and cellulose for tablet formulation. The determination of the drug ephedrine alkaloid is consistent and accurate utilizing isocratic conditions with HPLC.

Keywords: Ephedrine alkaloid, HPLC, isocratic, ephedrine hemihydrate.