Assessment of the chemical and enantiomeric purity of organic reference materials

This review evaluates commonly used methodologies for assessing the chemical purity of organic reference materials. Direct assay of the principal component can be established by methodologies such as gas chromatography, liquid chromatography (LC), quantitative nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), elemental analysis and titrimetry. Measurements of detectable impurity components mainly include determination of water or moisture content, and analysis of residual solvents, and organic and inorganic impurities. To complete assessment of chemical purity, it is necessary to determine the enantiomeric purity of chiral organic reference materials. Promising methodologies for analysis include LC with chiral stationary phases, capillary electrophoresis using chiral selectors, and NMR with chemical-shift reagents.