Estimation of sertraline by chromatographic (HPLC-UV(273 nm)) technique under hydrolytic stress conditions

PURPOSE: In this paper, simple, specific and accurate RP-HPLC method was developed in order to study decomposition of sertraline (SRT) under the hydrolytic stress conditions (acid, neutral, alkaline and oxidative). MATERIALS AND METHODS: The best separation of SRT and its degradation products were achieved on reverse phase LiChoCART with Purospher (RP-18e) column. The mobile phase was composed of methanol/water (75:25, v/v). The detection wavelength was 273 nm. The method was validated and response was found to be linear in the drug concentration range of 10–200 μg ml–1 with correlation coefficient of 0.998. RESULTS: The RSD values for intra- and inter-day precision were < 0.65 and < 0.72%, respectively. Employing RP-HPLC method, degradation products were detected in the exposed samples. CONCLUSION: It was found that the susceptibility of SRT to hydrolytic decomposition increased in following manner: Neutral condition < alkaline condition < acid condition < oxidative condition.