Pharmaceutical analysis by supercritical fluid chromatography: Optimization of the mobile phase composition on a 2-ethylpyridine column

The separation of neutral, acidic, and basic pharmaceuticals with diverse physicochemical properties by packed column supercritical fluid chromatography (pSFC) on a 2-ethylpyridine column (25 cm x 4.6 mm id, 3 mu m particles) is presented. The optimization strategy involved separations at 100% methanol (MeOH) and at 50% MeOH/50% ACN while keeping the peak symmetry additives formic acid (FA) and isopropylamine (IPA) at constant levels of 0.25% v/v. By plotting the adjusted retention times as a function of the MeOH/ACN ratio, an optimal modifier ratio composition of 65% MeOH/35% ACN was found. The total set of 26 neutral, acidic, and basic pharmaceuticals was analyzed and the optimal composition experimentally verified. This mobile phase composition is currently used in pharmaceutical method development and open-access generic screening environments.