Characterization of aromatic heptaene macrolide antibiotics by high performance liquid chromatography.

High performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) procedures were utilized for the rapid and efficient separation and characterization of the aromatic heptaene macrolide group of antifungal antibiotics. The instrument utilized a 350 nm phosphor converted ultraviolet detector and a mu Bondapak C18 column packing. Optimum resolution of eleven commercial aromatic heptaene macrolide preparations was obtained with solvent systems consisting of mixtures of acetonitrile and 0.05 M aqueous sodium citrate buffer, pH 5.3. The presence of two distinct types of aromatic heptaene macrolides with numerous well-defined individual components has been established.