Determination of montelukast sodium by capillary electrophoresis.

This work verifies the potential of CE in the analysis of significant impurities of montelukast sodium - an active ingredient for the treatment of bronchial asthma. Using 20 mM borate buffer pH 9.2 with 10 mM SDS and 10 mM (2-hydroxypropyl)-gamma-CD (2HP-gamma-CD) it was possible to separate montelukast and several impurities, including its cis-isomer, after exposure to light and oxygen. The obtained method surpasses a chromatographic method for montelukast sodium in terms of time of analysis (9 min of CE analysis vs. 35 min HPLC) and efficiency (CE offered over 900 000 theoretical plates for montelukast). Good repeatability of the method was supported by the low % RSD for the migration time of montelukast (0.53%). For the first time, the capillary electrophoretic method was employed for temporal study of the degradation of montelukast. The results showed that degradation of montelukast and the formation of the cis-isomer mainly occurred during the first 2 days of exposure, and occurred to a higher degree when there was no contact with the air (oxygen) in the exposed sample.