Liquid chromatographic separation of pregabalin and its possible impurities with fluorescence detection after postcolumn derivatization with o-phtaldialdehyde

A rapid procedure based on direct extraction and RP-HPLC separation of pregabalin and its possible impurities with fluorescence detection has been developed. The separation conditions and parameters of derivatization reaction for postcolumn derivatization of pregabalin with o-phtaldialdehyde/2-mercaptoethanol were studied. Purospher STAR RP-8e column with isocratic elution was employed. Fluorescence detection was performed at excitation and emission wavelength of 345 nm and 450 nm, respectively. The proposed method has an advantage of a simple sample pre-treatment and a quick and very sensitive HPLC method. The applicability of developed method was successfully verified during analysis of commercial samples of tablets of Lyrica (Pfizer, USA).