Validated HPLC–PDA methodology utilized for simultaneous determination of Etoricoxib and Paracetamol in the presence of Paracetamol toxic impurities

Abstract Etoricoxib (ETO), Paracetamol (PCM), and two toxic impurities for Paracetamol impurity K (4-aminophenol (PAP)) and impurity E (para-hydroxy acetophenone (PHA)) were separated using a simple and selective HPLC method that was tested for the first time. PCM is a commonly used analgesic and antipyretic medication that has recently been incorporated into COVID-19 supportive treatment. Pharmaceuticals containing PCM in combination with other analgesic-antipyretic drugs like ETO help to improve patient compliance. The studied drugs and impurities were separated on a GL Sciences Inertsil ODS-3 (250 × 4.6) mm, 5.0 µm column, and linear gradient elution was performed using 50 mM potassium dihydrogen phosphate adjusted to pH 4.0 with ortho-phosphoric acid and acetonitrile as mobile phase at 2.0 mL/min flow rate at 25 °C and UV detection at 220 nm. The linearity range was 1.5–30.0 µg/mL for ETO and PCM while 0.5–10.0 µg/mL for PAP and PHA, with correlation coefficients (r) for ETO, PCM, PAP, and PHA of 0.9999, 0.9993, 0.9996, and 0.9998, respectively. The proposed method could be used well for routine analysis in quality control laboratory.