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Evaluation of HPLC–DAD Selectivity by Discrimination Power and Mean List Length for the Identification of Unknown Drugs

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Abstract

This study aimed to evaluate the selectivity of substance identification in systematic toxicological analysis (STA) through analysis of 61 drugs by high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with diode array detection (HPLC–DAD). Substance identification was based on the comparison of UV spectra and relative retention time (RRT) with reference compounds stored in the database. Discrimination power (DP) and mean list length (MLL) were used to assess the selectivity of UV spectra and RRT for the identification of unknown substances. DP and MLL were 0.9995 and 1.033, respectively, when both UV spectra and RRT were taken into account. These findings demonstrate that when combining UV spectra and RRT, HPLC–DAD constitutes a reliable and inexpensive method for substance identification in STA. Application to actual samples was demonstrated as well.

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Acknowledgments

The work was supported by the Research Fund of Fujian Public Health Bureau (2007-1-27) and Quanzhou Science and Technology Bureau (2008Z24).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pharmacy, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Fujian Medical University, Quanzhou, 362000, People’s Republic of China

    Yin Zhang

  2. Department of Physical and Chemical Analysis, Quanzhou Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Quanzhou, 362000, People’s Republic of China

    Wei-Ping Xie

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  1. Yin Zhang
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  2. Wei-Ping Xie
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Correspondence to Yin Zhang.

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Zhang, Y., Xie, WP. Evaluation of HPLC–DAD Selectivity by Discrimination Power and Mean List Length for the Identification of Unknown Drugs. Chromatographia 77, 1613–1622 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10337-014-2769-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10337-014-2769-7

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