Determination of procaine and related local anesthetics. I. Partition chromatographic separation and assay of mixtures of procaine with tetracaine and with propoxycaine.

Determination of ionization and extraction constants for procaine, tetracaine, and propoxycaine led to selection of a simple partition chromatographic system for separation and assay of mixtures of these anesthetics. A 65% solution of chloroform in isooctane elutes tetracaine or propoxycaine from a pH 4:sodium bromide column; procaine is retained and subsequently eluted by chloroform as the bromide ion-pair. The anesthetics are then determined spectrophotometrically. Results of assay of standard and commercial formulations are presented.