Purity profiles of pteroylglutamate reference substances by high-performance liquid chromatography.

High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) in the reversed-phase mode was used for the purity analysis of three pteroylglutamic acid-type reference substances (folic acid, leucovorin calcium, and methotrexate). The influence of the pH of the mobile phase on the separation of an artificial mixture of six pteroylglutamic acid derivatives and three potential impurities was studied. Results of purity analysis of current lots of USP reference standards are reported. A better separation of methotrexate from its major impurities was achieved by using a standard buffer, rather than an ion-pairing mobile phase. A separation of methotrexate and its biologically inactive 7-isomer is reported.