Premium
Comprehensive and quantitative stability study of ascorbic acid using capillary zone electrophoresis with ultraviolet detection and high‐resolution tandem mass spectrometry
Author(s) -
Legrand Pauline,
Gahoual Rabah,
Benattar Raphaël,
Toussaint Balthazar,
Roques Caroline,
Mignet Nathalie,
GoulayDufaÿ Sophie,
Houzé Pascal
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of separation science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.72
H-Index - 102
eISSN - 1615-9314
pISSN - 1615-9306
DOI - 10.1002/jssc.202000389
Subject(s) - ascorbic acid , capillary electrophoresis , chromatography , chemistry , dehydroascorbic acid , electropherogram , tandem mass spectrometry , mass spectrometry , electrophoresis , detection limit , food science
Ascorbic acid is a powerful antioxidant compound involved in many biological functions, and a chronic deficiency is at the origin of scurvy disease. A simple, rapid, and cost‐effective capillary electrophoresis method was developed for the separation and simultaneous quantification of ascorbic acid and the major degradation products: dehydroascorbic acid, furfural, and furoic acid. Systematic optimization of the conditions was performed that enabled baseline separation of the compounds in less than 10 min. In addition to simultaneous quantification of ascorbic acid alongside to the degradation products, stability studies demonstrated the possibility using capillary electrophoresis to separate and identify the major degradation products. Thus, high‐resolution tandem mass spectrometry experiments were conducted in order to identify an unknown degradation product separated by capillary electrophoresis and significantly present in degraded samples. Comparison of mass spectrometry data and capillary electrophoresis electropherograms allowed to identify unambiguously trihydroxy‐keto‐valeraldehyde. Finally, capillary electrophoresis was successfully applied to evaluate the composition of different pharmaceutical preparation of ascorbic acid. Results showed the excellent performance of the capillary electrophoresis method due to the separation of excipients from the compounds of interest, which demonstrated the relevance of using an electrophoretic separation in order to perform comprehensive stability studies of ascorbic acid.