Chromatographic and Electrophoretic Separation Methods in Pharmaceutical Analysis

Dear Colleagues,

Modern pharmaceutical research is strongly linked to pharmaceutical analysis, as the development of new innovative methods of analysis is becoming both a necessity and a challenge for analysts. The process of drug development necessitates the use of accurate analytical methods allowing researchers to evaluate drug molecules in a precise and straightforward manner. A pharmaceutical analysis is used to provide reliable data to help not just drug discovery and development, but also postmarket surveillance. The analytical analysis of bulk drug materials, intermediates, drug formulations, contaminants, and degradation products, as well as biological samples containing pharmaceutical substances and their metabolites, is critical in pharmaceutical research. Analytical techniques for the quantitative and qualitative analysis of pharmaceutical substances have been included in compendial monographs, with the goal of characterizing the quality of bulk pharmaceutical materials by defining active component concentration limits. Analytical techniques play an important role throughout the drug development process, from understanding the physical and chemical stability of the drug, assessing the stability of the drug molecules, quantifying impurities, to identifying those impurities that are above the established threshold and evaluating the toxicity profiles of these impurities or pharmacokinetic studies. Consequently, it is important to identify the best analytical solutions for method development when it comes to quantitative and qualitative pharmaceutical analysis. The current Special Issue highlights the role of various analytical techniques in the analysis of pharmaceuticals, focusing on the applications of high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and capillary electrophoresis (CE). Although HPLC is the most common technique for separating complicated mixtures of chemicals, CE today can be considered an interesting alternative and, sometimes, a complementary method in the drug analysis. Over the last 10 years, new technologies have continually developed; furthermore, the employment of more established approaches is being aided by gradual advances in technology and protocol. Combination approaches, high-throughput technologies, chemometrics, miniaturization, and nanotechnology have all developed and are currently employed in modern pharmaceutical analysis. The quest for novel medications continues as researchers combine available analytical methods, develop new technologies, and find new uses for the existing technology.

This Special Issue focuses on original research papers covering the development and application of chromatographic and electrophoretic methods in modern pharmaceutical analysis. Additionally, review papers presenting an in-depth analysis of the state-of-the-art of the topic are also eligible. Scientists focusing on this domain are encouraged to submit their research results for publication in this Special Issue.

Dr. Gabriel Hancu
Prof. Dr. Aura Rusu
Dr. Andreea Pricopie
Guest Editors

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