Stability-indicating high performance liquid chromatographic method for determination of norfloxacin in bulk form and tablets.

High performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) separation has been investigated for the determination of intact norfloxacin in the presence of its photodegradation products. The HPLC-separation could be achieved isocratically and by gradient elution on a Micropak -NH2 column (10 microns, 30 cm x 4 mm O) using a mobile phase containing acetonitrile, tetrabutylammonium hydroxide, o-phosphoric acid and water at a rate of 2 ml.min-1 with UV-detection (278 nm) at ambient temperature. The method was applied for the drug analysis in fresh and photodegraded norfoxacin samples, as well as for assessment of the content uniformity of tablets containing the drug. The results of the proposed liquid chromatographic method were statistically matched with those obtained by adopting an official HPLC-method (USP XXII-procedure).