New concept for HPTLC peak purity assessment and identification of drugs in multi-component mixtures.

Simple methods for HPTLC peak purity assessment and identification of the HPTLC peaks were presented. The spectrodensitograms - selected at different time intervals across the elution time of the HPTLC peak - were extracted and digital algorithms for manipulating the data were carried out in the wavelength domain. Three different methods were developed for testing the HPTLC peak purity using the mathematically transformed data of the spectrodensitograms. These included the method of relative absorption, the method of logA versus the wavelength plots and the derivative (first, second, third and fourth) method. The identification of the HPTLC peaks was based on the use of the derivative profile of the spectrodensitogram and the derivative ratios as fingerprints for the compounds. The wavelengths of absorbance and derivative (first, second, third and fourth) optima of the extracted spectrodensitograms were allocated. The data were compared with those obtained using the corresponding reference standard. The validity of the proposed methods was performed by chromatography of a mixture containing mebendazole and methylparaben as a model versus the winCATS(®) spectral correlation method as a reference method. The study indicated that the proposed concept is a reliable non-confusing valuable tool for testing the purity and identity of the HPTLC peaks as the results are easily and rigorously interpreted.