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Abstract
A method for the content determination of felodipine from tablets using accelerated solvent extraction (ASE) was developed. Acetonitrile, methanol and a mixture of the two (2:1, v/v) were evaluated as the extraction solvents, at two different temperatures, 50°C and 100°C, for ground tablets. Acetonitrile gave the fastest extraction and methanol the slowest at both temperatures. No difference in extraction efficiency was observed between the two temperatures. To minimize sample handling, extraction of whole tablets was performed using the same parameters as for the ground tablets. 100°C gave higher recoveries than 50°C.
However, quantitative recovery could not be achieved within an acceptable extraction time due to slow mass transfer in whole tablets. Hence, a different approach was used where tablets were crushed in a filter paper inside the extractor cell using a pair of flat pliers. This approach provided a straightforward way of transferring the entire tablet to the cell without losses. The final method was capable of extracting over 98% of felodipine within 15 minutes of static extraction at 50°C and 1500 psi, using acetonitrile as the solvent. No target analyte breakdown was observed at these conditions.