Abstract

ADVANCEMENTS IN LC-MS FOR PHARMACEUTICAL ANALYSIS

Aditi R. Baware*, Prashant B. Shamkuwar, Akash Kale and Akshay Pashte

ABSTRACT

The creation of new medications has greatly benefited from the use of mass spectrometer (MS) detection in conjunction with liquid chromatography (LC) based procedures. A greater range of applications in the pharmaceutical industry have been made possible by ongoing advancements in mass spectrometry and interface technologies, together with sophisticated liquid chromatographic methods for high-throughput qualitative and quantitative analysis. Pharmaceuticals are analysed using LC-MS technologies at various stages of their discovery and development. Drug development, product characterisation, metabolism investigations (in vitro and in vivo), and the detection of contaminants and degradation products are some of these processes. Retention periods and molecular weights (and associated fragmentation patterns) are becoming as critical analytical aspects in the drug industry, driving an immense surge in LC-MS applications. This main aim of the review is to provide a summary of the major advancements made in LC-MS-based methods for the analysis of small pharmaceutical compounds over the past ten years and to provide insight into potential future improvements in LC-MS in the pharmaceutical industry.

Keywords: Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS); pharmaceutical analysis; separation techniques.