New Validated Methods for the Simultaneous Determination of Two Multicomponent Mixtures Containing Guaiphenesin in Syrup by HPLC and Chemometrics‐Assisted UV‐Spectroscopy

Abstract

High pressure liquid chromatographic (HPLC) and spectrophotometric methods are developed for the determination of two multicomponent mixtures containing guaiphenesin, dextromethorphane hydrobromide, and sodium benzoate together with either phenylephrine hydrochloride, chlorpheniramine maleate, and butylparaben (mixture 1) or ephedrine hydrochloride and diphenhydramine hydrochloride (mixture 2). The HPLC method depended on using an ODS column with mobile phase consisting of acetonitrile −10 mM potassium dihydrogen phosphate, pH 2.7 (40∶60 v/v) containing 5 mM heptane sulfonic acid sodium salt (for mix 1) and a cyanopropyl column with mobile phase consisting of acetonitrile −12 mM ammonium acetate, pH 5 (40∶60 v/v) (for mix 2) and UV detection at 214 nm. The cyanopropyl column is much less hydrophobic, less sterically restricted to the penetration of bulky solute molecules into the stationary phase, and has weaker hydrogen‐bond acidity than the ODS column. So the cyanopropyl column is more suitable for separation of components of mix 2. The chemometric‐assisted spectrophotometric method with, principal component regression (PCR) and partial least squares (PLS‐1) was used. For the chemometric method a calibration set of the mixture consisting of each compound in each mixture was prepared in distilled water. The absorbance data in the UV spectra were measured in the spectral region (210–240 or 210–224 nm for mix 1 and mix 2, respectively, as this range provided the greatest amount of information about the two mixture components). The spectrophotometric method does not require a separation step. The proposed methods were successfully applied for the analysis of the two multicomponents combinations in laboratory‐prepared mixtures and in commercial syrups, and the results were compared with each other.