HPLC assay of acetylsalicylic acid, paracetamol, caffeine and phenobarbital in tablets

Abstract This paper present a HPLC method for simultaneous determination of acetylsalicylic acid, paracetamol, caffeine and phenobarbital in tablets, using chromatographic system consisting a Bio Rad 18 01 solvent pump, Rheodine 71 25 injector and Bio Rad 18 01 UV–Vis Detector. Separation was achieved using Bio SiL HL C18, 5 μm, 250×4.6 mm column. Mixture of acetonitrile–water (25:75 v/v) adjusted to pH 2.5 with phosphoric acid was used as a mobile phase at a flow rate of 2.0 ml min −1 . UV detection was at 207 nm range 0.01 AUFS. Under the same conditions it was possible to determine the level of salicylic acid. The chromatographic parameters such as retention times, capacity factor, peak asymmetry, selectivity factor and resolution factor was determined. The validation parameters: linearity ( r >0.998), intra-day precision (RSD: 0.36–1.89%) and inter-day precision (RSD: 0.58–2.18%), sensitivity (LOD: 9×10 −5 –1.7×10 −4 mg ml −1 and LOQ: 2.5×10 −4 –5.6×10 −4 mg ml −1 ), accuracy (recoveries: 98.35–99.14%) and reproducibility (recovery values: 98.74–102.08% for acetylsalicylic acid, 99.93–102.11% for paracetamol, 98.25–102.12% for caffeine and 98.15–102.3% for phenobarbital) (RSD: 1.21–1.85%) were found to be satisfactory. The proposed HPLC method has been applied for the determination of acetylsalicylic acid, paracetamol, caffeine and phenobarbital in Malophenum tablets. The obtained RSD values were within 0.99–1.21%. The developed method is rapid and sensitive and therefore suitable for routine control of these drugs in dosage form.