Reversed-phase liquid chromatographic determination of enantiomers of atenolol in rat plasma using derivatization with Marfey's reagent.

An HPLC method was established for enantioseparation of (R,S)-atenolol (ATE) and determination of enantiomers in rat plasma. Marfey's reagent (1-fluoro-2,4-dinitrophenyl-5-L-alanine amide, FDNP-L-Ala-NH(2), MR) was used as chiral derivatizing reagent with detection of diastereomers at 340 nm. It was shown that the R-isomer eluted before the S-isomer. The method was validated for linearity, repeatability, limits of detection and limit of quantification (LOQ). Recovery of ATE at LOQ was 92.8% for (R)-ATE and 92.6% for (S)-ATE.