HPLC Analysis of Vick’s Dayquil Cold and Flue Multi Symptoms Liquid Caps on Coresep 100 Mixed-Mode Column

Application description

Cough and cold drug composition are a complex mixture of compounds of different nature. Analysis of such drug composition might be challenging and require several methods of analysis including chromatography and titration. The main components of the medication are acetaminophen, pseudoephedrine and dextromethorphan. The liquid caps are used to temporarily relieve common cold and flu symptoms, like nasal congestion, cough due to minor throat & bronchial irritation, headache, minor aches & pains, fever and sore sore throat. Acetaminophen or paracetamol is a relatively hydrophilic drug, which is used to treat pain and fever. Dextromethorphan is a hydrophobic basic compound, which is used as an over-the-counter cough suppressant. Pseudoephedrine is a hydrophilic basic compound which is used as nasal and sinus decongestant or as a stimulant. Acetaminophen is retained by pure reversed-phase mechanisms and you can control retention time by the amount of ACN in the mobile phase. Dextromethorphan is retained by reversed-phase and cation-exchange mechanisms. The retention time of the dextromethorphan can be controlled by the amount of acetonitrile, buffer pH, and buffer concentration. Pseudoephedrine is mostly retained by the cation-exchange mechanism. Each mechanism of interaction can be controlled separately resulting in unprecedented selectivity of mixed-mode columns. Core-shell particles of the Coresep 100 HPLC column ensure high efficiency of separation associated with core-shell particles. Various buffers and acids can be used to accommodate specific detection techniques like UV, ELSD, CAD, and mass spectrometry. Coresep 100 columns can be used to analyze basic compounds without ion-pairing reagent in the mobile phase. Hydrophobic neutral, hydrophobic basic, hydrophilic basic, hydrophobic basic and weak carboxylic acids can be analyzed with Coresep 100 column. Hydrophilic acids might have limited retention and require a different column (Coresep SB, Heritage MA). Mixed-mode HPLC columns provide 2-D selectivity for the retention of hydrophobic and hydrophilic ionizable compounds.