Separation and Determination of Propranolol Enantiomers in Plasma by High-Performance Liquid Chromatography with Fluorescence Detection

Abstract

The separation and determination of (-)- and (+)-propranolols in plasma by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) are described. the newly developed method is based on precolumn derivatization with a chiral axis reagent, (-)-2-methyl-1,1′-binaphthalene-2′-carbonyl cyanide (MBNCC), to form diastereomeric esters. the diastereomers were separated on a normal phase column by HPLC with fluorescence detection employing 0.3% methanol in hexane-ethyl acetate (15:1, v/v) as the mobile phase. the clean-up of propranolol in plasma was efficiently attained by the combined use of a Sep-pak C₁₈ cartridge and an ion exchange gel, carboxymethyl Sephadex LH-20. the detection limit of each propranolol enantiomer was 100 pg.