Application of planar chromatography for estimation of lercanidipine hydrochloride in dosage form

A new simple, precise, accurate, and selective high performance thin-layer chromatographic (HPTLC) method has been developed for analysis of lercanidipine hydrochloride (LER) in a tablet, using chloroform:toluene:methanol:acetic acid (8:1:1:1; v/v/v/v) as mobile phase. Chromatographic separation was achieved on precoated silica gel 60F254 plates with 0.2 mm thickness. Detection was performed densitometrically using a UV detector at 365 nm. The retention factor of lercanidipine hydrochloride was RF 0.55 (±0.02). The reliability of the method was assessed by evaluation of linearity 30-210 ng per band. The suitability of this HPTLC method for quantitative determination of LER was proved by validation in accordance with the requirement of pharmaceutical regulatory standards. The method was found to be reproducible and convenient for determination of compound in commercial pharmaceutical formulations. The advantage of the method is simplicity, reasonable sensitivity, rapidity, excellent resolving power, low cost and is a more effective option than other chromatographic techniques in routine quality control.