An isocratic HPLC method for the simultaneous determination of novel stable lipophilic ascorbic acid derivatives and their metabolites

2-O-α-d-glucopyranosyl-6-O-hexadecanoyl-l-ascorbic acid (6-sPalm-AA-2G), a novel stable lipophilic ascorbic acid derivative, was hydrolyzed to 2-O-α-d-glucopyranosyl-l-ascorbic acid (AA-2G), ascorbyl 6-palmitate (6-sPalm-AA) and ascorbic acid (AA) with α-glucosidase and lipase. An HPLC method for the simultaneous determination of AA, AA-2G, 6-sPalm-AA and 6-sPalm-AA-2G was developed using a cyanopropyl column with an isocratic solution of methanol–phosphate buffer (pH 2.1) (65:35, v/v) containing 20 mg/l of dithiothreitol at a detection wavelength of 240 nm. The calibration curves were found to be linear in the range of 10–200 μM. Linear regression analysis of the data demonstrated the efficacy of the method in terms of precision and accuracy. This method was satisfactorily applied to the determination of 6-sPalm-AA-2G and its three metabolites in a 6-sPalm-AA-2G solution treated with purified enzymes or a small intestine post-mitochondrial supernatant and to the separation of novel stable lipophilic AA derivatives other than 6-sPalm-AA-2G and their metabolites. AA, AA-2G and other well-known stable AA derivatives, ascorbic acid 2-phosphate and ascorbic acid 2-sulfate, were also separated under the same conditions. The results show that the procedure is rapid and simple and that it can be employed for in vitro metabolic analysis of various AA derivatives.