Separation of tricyclic psychosedative drugs by high-speed ion-pair partition and liquid-solid adsorption chromatography.

The application of high-speed ion-pair partition and liquid-solid adsorption chromatography to the separation of twenty common tricyclic tranquilizers and antidepressant drugs is described. In the ion-pair system, amine-perchlorate ion-pairs were extracted from an aqueous stationary phase supported on 10-mum silica gel by organic eluents containing a chloromethane and a higher aliphatic alcohol, and chromatographic parameters for elution by eight eluent mixtures are presented. Using 5 mm times 120 mm columns good separations, according to chemical class, were achieved. For adsorption chromatography, the components were eluted from 20-mum spherical alumina using eluents containing methylene chloride, n-hexane or n-pentane, and acetic acid. Chromatographic parameters are given for eight eluent compositions. Components differing little in structure are well separated by liquid-solid adsorption chromatography. Compared with ion-pair partition chromatography, adsorption chromatography is much more selective for compounds of the same chemical type. The two methods are therefore complementary. Both methods gave plate heights in the range of 0.1 to 0.3 mm.