Development of Rapid Analytical Methods in the Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Analytical Chemistry (LCAP)

Abstract

The use of rapid and ultra-rapid analytical methods in the pharmaceutical domain is mandatory in the drug discovery, drug development, and quality control steps. Liquid chromatography (LC) and capillary electrophoresis (CE) are therefore particularly studied in the Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Analytical Chemistry (LCAP) to perform fast and ultra-fast analyses of drugs present in different matrices. Due to its sensitivity and selectivity, mass spectrometry (MS) is considered today as the gold standard in pharmaceutical analysis and has been generally used as the detector of choice for performing rapid analyses. This article gives a survey of the applied strategies achieved in the LCAP for the last five years such as: use of new chromatographic supports and small columns in LC; development of column switching techniques with extraction supports compatible with the direct injection of biological matrices; use of immobilized enzyme reactors for rapid protein digestion; enhancement of electrophoretic mobility and development of different injection procedures in CE.