9-Fluorenylmethyl chloroformate as a fluorescence-labeling reagent for derivatization of carboxylic acid moiety of sodium valproate using liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry for binding characterization: A human pharmacokinetic study

► FMOC-Cl is a suitable labeling agent for derivatization of chemicals amines or hydroxyl groups. ► The reagent was applied in labeling of valproate (VPA) an anticonvulsant with carboxylic acid moiety. ► To document reaction between FMOC-Cl and carboxylic acid moiety a LC–MS/MS method was developed. ► The method is simple, rapid, sensitive which needs using lower sample volume. ► Potential application of FMOC in assay of carboxylic acids, makes our method attractive. In High Performance Liquid Chromatographic (HPLC) determination of chemicals with acidic functions, different labeling agents are used to improve sensitivity of the assay. 9-Fluorenylmethyl chloroformate (FMOC-Cl), on the other hand, is a suitable labeling agent, which reacts with both primary and secondary amines and less readily with hydroxyl groups in alkaline conditions. However, the reagent has not been applied in labeling of chemicals with acidic function yet. In this study which is the first report on application of FMOC-Cl in derivatization and analysis of a drug with acidic function, valproic acid (VPA), one of a series of fatty carboxylic acids with anticonvulsant activity, was derivatized using the reagent and quantified in serum samples by HPLC with fluorescence detection. In addition, to document the reaction between the labeling agent and carboxylic acid moiety of the drug, we developed a liquid chromatography–tandem MS/MS (LC–MS/MS) method. Following liquid–liquid extraction, derivatization of the drug and an internal standard was achieved in alkaline medium. The elute was monitored by a fluorescence detector with respective excitation and emission wavelengths of 265 and 315nm. The present method is more sensitive comparing with other published HPLC procedures for analysis of VPA. The assay is sensitive enough to measure drug levels obtained in human single dose studies with a limit of quantification of 0.01μg/mL. Also the method is linear over the concentrations range of 0.01–32μg/mL of VPA in human serum using 100μL serum sample and 5μL injection. The coefficient variation values of both inter and intra day analysis were less than 12% and the percentage error was less than 4%. The method performance was studied and the validated procedure applied in a randomized cross-over bioequivalence study of two different VPA preparations in 24 healthy volunteers.