Determination of rimantadine in human urine by HPLC using a monolithic stationary phase and on-line post-column derivatization

In the present study, we propose the first HPLC method coupled to postcolumn derivatization for the determination of rimantadine in human urine samples. The analyte and amantadine (internal standard) were isocratically separated using an RP monolithic stationary phase (100 x 4.6 mm id) with a mobile phase consisting of CH3OH/phosphate buffer (25 mmol/L, pH 3.0) at a volume ratio of 50:50. Postcolumn derivatization involved on-line reaction with o-phthalaldehyde (20 mmol/L) and N-acetyl-cysteine (5 mmol/L) at alkaline medium (100 mmol/L borate pH 11.0). Spectrofluorimetric detection at ex/em = 340/455 nm enabled the selective and sensitive determination of rimantadine in urine samples at a range of 50-500 ng/mL with an LOD of 5 ng/mL. Human urine samples were analyzed successfully after SPE using hydrophilic-lipophilic balanced RP cartridges (30 mg/mL, Oasis HLB). Recoveries ranged between 89.7 and 102.7%.