Simple and Rapid Micellar Electrokinetic Chromatography Method for Simultaneous Determination of Febuxostat and its Related Impurities

A micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography (MEKC) method has been developed and validated for simultaneous analysis of febuxostat and its related substances in active pharmaceutical ingredients and pharmaceutical formulations. Analysis was performed in an uncoated fused silica capillary (34 cm effective length, 50 µm diameter). Method sensitivity was enhanced using an extended light path capillary, with an optical path 150 µm and the choice of 320 nm detector operating wavelength due to lower background noise and higher selectivity. BGE consisted of 20 mM borate buffer pH 9.3 and 50 mM SDS and 2% acetonitrile. Analysis was performed at 30 kV separation voltage and 32 °C capillary temperature. The method was linear over the range 1.0–10.0 µg mL −1 for each impurity corresponding to reporting limits regarding the ICH Q3A guidelines. The method has proven to be selective, precise, accurate and robust. Proposed MEKC method has been successfully applied for the quantitative determination of febuxostat and purity assay of active pharmaceutical ingredient and tablet dosage forms.