A Validated LC Method for Determination of the Enantiomeric Purity of Darifenacin in Bulk Drug and Extended Release Tablets

A new and accurate chiral liquid chromatographic method has been developed for the determination of enantiomeric purity of darifenacin [(S)-enantiomer] in bulk drugs and extended release tablets. Normal phase chromatographic separation was performed on an immobilized cellulose based chiral stationary phase (Chiralpak-IC) with n-hexane:ethanol:diethylamine (50:50:0.3, v/v/v) as mobile phase at a flow rate of 1.0 mL min−1. The elution time was ~15 min. The resolution (Rs) between the enantiomers was greater than four and interestingly the (R)-enantiomer was eluted prior to darifenacin in the developed method. The limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ) for the (R)-enantiomer were 0.02 μg and 0.07 μg, respectively, for a 10 μL injection volume. The method was extensively validated in terms of linearity, precision and accuracy and satisfactory results were obtained. Robustness studies were also conducted. The sample solution stability of darifenacin was determined and the compound was found to be stable for a study period of 48 h.