Simultaneous determination of methaqaulone, saccharin, paracetamol, and phenacetin in illicit drug samples by hplc

Abstract

Background: Saccharin, a low calorie artificial sweetener was found as a new diluent / adulterant present along with paracetamol and phenacetin in an illicit methaqualone sample. Methods: All these components were simultaneously analyzed by the proposed reverse phase high performance liquid chromatography method using C18 column using acetonitrile: water (90:10 v/v) as mobile phase with a flow rate of 1mL / min. Results: The percentages of saccharin, phenacetin, paracetamol and methaqualone in illicit drug sample were found to be 15.0, 45.6, 25.1 and 12.0 respectively. The method was validated for limit of detection, limit of quantification, linearity, accuracy, precision and reproducibility with the help of the exhibit and simulated samples. Conclusions: The proposed method is simple, accurate and fast. It can be applied to the routine analysis of illicit methaqualone samples as well as for their impurity profiles for tracing the origin.