Liquid chromatography of polymyxin B sulphate

A reversed-phase liquid chromatography method for analysis of polymyxin B sulphate is described. The method uses a YMC-Pack Pro, C18, 5 μm, 250×4.6 mm I.D. column maintained at 30°C. The mobile phase comprises acetonitrile–sodium sulphate (0.7%, m/v)–phosphoric acid (6.8%, v/v dilution of 85%, m/m phosphoric acid)–water (22.25:50:5:22.75) at a flow-rate of 1.0 ml/min. Detection was by UV at 215 nm. The method is able to resolve polymyxin B1, the major component, from more than thirty other components present in the complex. Robustness was evaluated by performing a full-factorial design experiment. The method showed good selectivity, repeatability, linearity and sensitivity.