Determination of grepafloxacin and clinafloxacin by capillary zone electrophoresis

A simple and rapid capillary zone electrophoresis determination method with UV detection of grepafloxacin and clinafloxacin has been developed. The separation was performed in 35 mM borate-35 mM phosphate buffer solution (pH 8.6), containing 6% (v/v) of acetonitrile. Analyses were realised using fused-silica capillaries (57 cm lengthx75 mum. I.D.) and the operating conditions were: 15 kV applied voltage, 30 degreesC and detection at 279 nm. Piromidic acid was used as an internal standard. The linear concentration range of application was 1.0-120.0 mug ml(-1) for both compounds, with a detection limit of 0.2 mug ml(-1) for grepafloxacin and 0.3 mug ml(-1) for clinafloxacin. The analysis yielded good reproducibility (RSD between 3.37 and 1.74%). It was applied to the determination of grepafloxacin and clinafloxacin in human and rat urine samples. The method was validated using HPLC as a reference method. Recovery levels were between 94.5 and 103%. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.