Acta Pharm. 67 (2017) 203-213

 

full paper

Original research paper

 

Comparing monolithic and fused core HPLC columns for fast chromatographic analysis of fat-soluble vitamins

SAID EL KURDI, DINA ABU MUAILEQ, HASSAN A. ALHAZMI, MOHAMMED AL BRATTY and SAMI EL DEEB

s.eldeeb@tu-bs.de

1 Chemistry Department, Faculty of Science, Islamic University, Gaza, Palestine

2 Pharmaceutical Chemistry Department, Faculty of Pharmac, Al-Azhar University-Gaza, Gaza, Palestine

3 Pharmaceutical Chemistry Department, Faculty of Pharmacy, Jazan University, Jazan, Saudi Arabia

4 Institute of Medicinal and Pharmaceutical Chemistry, TU Braunschweig, D-38106 Braunschweig, Germany

Accepted December 22, 2016

Published online January 19, 2017

 

HPLC stationary phases of monolithic and fused core type can be used to achieve fast chromatographic separation as an alternative to UPLC. In this study, monolithic and fused core stationary phases are compared for fast separation of four fat-soluble vitamins. Three new methods on the first and second generation monolithic silica RP-18e columns and a fused core pentafluoro-phenyl propyl column were developed. Application of three fused core columns offered comparable separations of retinyl palmitate, DL-α-tocopheryl acetate, cholecalciferol and menadione in terms of elution speed and separation efficiency. Separation was achieved in approx. 5 min with good resolution (Rs >5) and precision (RSD ≤ 0.6 %). Monolithic columns showed, however, a higher number of theoretical plates, better precision and lower column backpressure than the fused core column. The three developed methods were successfully applied to separate and quantitate fat-soluble vitamins in commercial products.

 

Keywords: monolithic silica column, fused core column, HPLC, fat-soluble vitamins, analytical performance