Validation and application of a liquid chromatographic–mass spectrometric method for determination of artesunate in pharmaceutical samples

A simple and rapid liquid chromatographic–mass spectrometric assay for the evaluation of artesunate in vials for injection has been developed and validated.The content of each vial was dissolved in 3.0 mL of methanol using a SGE analytical syringe (1.0 mL). Each sample was diluted to a theoretical concentration of 1000 ng/mL and analysed in triplicate. Three replicates of calibration standards at concentrations 500, 1000 and 1500 ng/mL were used to construct a calibration curve. Artesunate was analysed by liquid chromatography with atmospheric pressure chemical ionisation (APCI) mass spectrometric (MS) detection on a Hypersil Gold column (100 mm × 4.6 mm) using a mobile phase containing methanol–ammonium acetate 10 mM pH 5.3 (70:30, v/v) at a flow rate of 1 mL/min. The assay was implemented for the analysis of artesunate for injection purchased from Guilin Pharmaceutical Company in China.