Publication Date

Fall 2012

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science

Department

Analytical Chemistry

First Advisor

Shailendra Kumar, Ph.D.

Second Advisor

Walter Henne, Jr., Ph.D.

Third Advisor

Karen D'Arcy, Ph.D.

Abstract

The pharmaceutical industry mainly uses chromatographic techniques such as High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) and Gas Chromatography (GC), to determine the quantity of the active ingredient and other material in the drugs. A large effort goes into developing methods using chromatography techniques. The method development and running HPLC and GC are time consuming. Methods need to be updated as the chromatographic columns and the instruments wear out. On the other hand, Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) technique is mainly used for qualitative analysis to determine the identity of compounds. However, Proton-NMR technique does provide quantitative information of compounds but to develop a method an internal standard of known concentration is required. We are using q-NMR (quantitative NMR) to quantitatively analyze acetylsalicylic acid and acetaminophen by Proton-NMR using diethyl ether as an internal standard. The area of NMR signals shows a linear relationship with the concentration. Acetylsalicylic acid and acetaminophen were chosen as a representative drug. The method is useful for a wide variety of drugs. Our future studies include using a variety of appropriate internal standards to determine concentrations of several organic compounds including various pharmaceutical drugs and petroleum products.

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