Simple and rapid high performance liquid chromatography method for the determination of polidocanol as bulk product and in pharmaceutical polymer matrices using charged aerosol detection.

Currently, neither the European nor the United States Pharmacopoeia provide a method for the determination of polidocanol (PD) content despite the fact that PD, besides being an excipient, is also used as an active pharmaceutical ingredient. We therefore developed a method where the PD content was determined using a Kinetex C18 column operated at 40°C with water-acetonitrile (15:85, v/v) as mobile phase. A Corona(®) charged aerosol detector was employed for the detection of PD that is lacking a suitable UV chromophore. The method was fully validated. Additionally, the method was applied for the determination of PD release from a pharmaceutical polymer matrix consisting of poly-ɛ-caprolactone and poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) and PD.