Influence of the stationary phase on the stability of thalidomide and comparison of different methods for the quantification of thalidomide in tablets using high-temperature liquid chromatography

In this paper, three different HPLC methods for the quantification of thalidomide in tablets were developed and compared. The comparison of a conventional method at 30 °C with two high-temperature methods at 180 °C showed equal results. Using high-temperature HPLC (HT-HPLC), faster analysis times could be achieved. We have also focused on analyte stability and could show that the stationary phase has a pronounced effect on the on-column degradation of thalidomide at high temperatures. Virtually no degradation occurs if a polystyrene divinylbenzene column is used, whereas thalidomide is completely degraded at 180 °C when a carbon clad zirconium dioxide column is used.