Recent advances in the separation and determination of impurities in pharmaceutical products

Recently, analyses with high sensitivity and selectivity, and a reduction in analyses time is a major goal for novel methodology. In order to obtain these characteristics, both methodological and instrumental advantages are needed, especially when the matrix complexity requires, in traditional assays, considerable time for samples preparation and processing. Several problems in terms of matrix components and chemical-physical complexity are encountered when pesticide or pharmaceutical impurity profiles are considered for quantitative analyses. In this article, recent advancements are treated in terms of instrument configuration, software devices, and processing in order to optimize the separation conditions and achieve accuracy (precise and trueness), sensitivity, and selectivity for quantitative analyses; some applications are reported. Furthermore, a recent approach will be considered to speed up method development by automating solvent dilution, buffer pH adjustment, and modifier additions for separations.