Liquid chromatographic assay of ascorbic acid, niacinamide, pyridoxine, thiamine, and riboflavin in multivitamin-mineral preparations.

A simple and rapid method is presented for the liquid chromatographic assay of ascorbic acid, niacinamide, pyridoxine, thiamine, and riboflavin from a single chromatogram. Ion-pair chromatography with a reverse phase C18 cartridge in a radial compression system is used. Quantitation is excellent with a total analysis time of less than 20 min. A mobile phase of methanol-water (15 + 85) (0.005M heptanesulfonic acid) with 0.5% triethylamine at pH 3.6 and a flow rate of 2.0 mL/min gives the most satisfactory separation of the 5 water-soluble vitamins. By using 2 detectors in series set at different wavelengths and sensitivities, all 5 vitamins, with peak heights on scale, can be measured from a single injection; peak elution order is ascorbic acid, niacinamide, pyridoxine, thiamine, and riboflavin. Ascorbic acid is measured at 254 nm and the other vitamins, at 280 nm. The amount of amine modifier in the mobile phase is critical to the separation of niacinamide and pyridoxine. Recoveries of 5 water-soluble vitamins from spiked placebos were in the range of 98.2-102.0%. Confidence limits, +/- 3 SD, were in the range of 1.0-5.4%. Overall, the results obtained using the liquid chromatographic method show excellent agreement with manual methods and automated analysis.