Simultaneous Determination of Impurities in Ropinirole Tablets by an Improved HPLC Method Coupled with Diode Array Detection

A gradient HPLC method coupled with diode array detection was developed and fully validated for the analysis of impurities in ropinirole using a Kromasil (R) C8 100 angstrom (250 x 4.6 mm, 5 mu m) column with a flow rate 1.0 mL min(-1) and detection at 250 nm. The mobile phase component A consisted of a mixture of 19.6 mM aqueous potassium dihydrogen phosphate-acetonitrile (98:2 v/v), pH adjusted to 7.0 with triethylamine and the mobile phase component B consisted of acetonitrile. The method was validated in terms of linearity, sensitivity, precision, accuracy and stability. The calibration curves for ropinirole and its five impurities showed good linearity (r >= 0.998) within the calibration ranges tested. The intra-and inter-day RSD values were <3.9 %, while the relative percentage error Er was <5.8 % for all compounds. Accelerated stability studies performed under various stress conditions including oxidation, hydrolysis and UV light irradiation at 254 nm proved the selectivity of the procedure. Long-term stability studies performed on blistered tablets and under various conditions of heat and humidity indicate the presence of four of the studied impurities in less than 0.07 %. The method was applied successfully to the detection and determination of ropinirole impurities in pharmaceutical formulations.