Stereoselective RP-HPLC determination of esmolol enantiomers in human plasma after pre-column derivatization

A stereoselective reversed-phase HPLC assay to determine S-( -) and R-(+) enantiomers of esmolol in human plasma was developed. The method involved liquid-liquid extraction of esmolol from human plasma, using S-(-)-propranolol as the internal standard, and employed 2,3,4,6-tetra-O-acetyl-beta-D-glucopyranosyl isothiocyanate as a pre-column chiral derivatization reagent. The derivatized products were separated on a 5-mum reversed-phase C18 column with a mixture of acetonitrile/0.02 mol/L phosphate buffer (pH 4.5) (55:45, v/v) as mobile phase. The detection of esmolol derivatives was made at lambda = 224 nm with UV detector. The assay was linear from 0.035 to 12 mug/ml for each enantiomer. The analytical method afforded average recoveries of 94.8% and 95.5% for S-( -)- and R-(+)-esmolol, respectively. For each enantiomer, the limit of detection was 0.003 mug/ml and the limit of quantification for the method was 0.035 mug/ml (RSD < 14%). The reproducibility of the assay was satisfactory. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.