Determination of (R)-timolol in (S)-timolol maleate active pharmaceutical ingredient: Validation of a new supercritical fluid chromatography method with an established normal phase liquid chromatography method

• SFC method developed for R-timolol impurity in S-timolol maleate drug substance.
• SFC method is faster than previously published methods based on NACE or NP-HPLC.
• Shows equivalent performance as a limit test compared with existing NP-HPLC methods.
• Shows potential as a quantitative impurities assay based on preliminary studies.

An enantioselective supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC) method was developed and validated to meet the current European Pharmacopoeia requirements of a limit test for the determination of S-timolol maleate enantiomeric purity in timolol maleate drug substance. The developed method is presented as an alternative to the current normal phase high performance liquid chromatography (NP-HPLC) method described in the European Pharmacopoeia (Timolol Maleate Monograph). Using a 4.6 mm × 250 mm Chiralcel OD-H (dp: 5 μm) column and a mobile phase of (93:7) CO2/0.1% (v/v) TEA in MeOH delivered at 4.0 mL min−1 resolution of 2.0 was achieved within 5 min, representing a 3-fold reduction in run-time and an 11-fold reduction in solvent consumption relative to the NP-HPLC method. Method robustness was examined by the variation of flow rate (±0.5 mL min−1), column temperature (±5 °C) and column back-pressure (±10 bar) and resolution was maintained at ≥1.9 in all cases. R-timolol was resolved from all potential impurities and the limit of detection was improved by increasing the sample concentration threefold compared to the NP-HPLC method such that the method could detect the R-timolol enantiomer at 0.5% (w/w) with respect to S-timolol maleate. Additional validation parameters demonstrated that the potential of the method to be used for routine release testing of timolol maleate raw material for drug product manufacturing in which the quantitation of R-timolol impurity in S-timolol maleate drug substance would be a requirement.