A Stability-Indicating LC Method for Rimonabant

A simple, inexpensive and rapid isocratic LC method has been developed for the quantative determination of Rimonabant, an anti-obesity drug. The method can also be employed for the determination of Rimonabant and its impurities in the bulk drug. Degradation studies were performed on the bulk drug by heating to 60 degrees C, exposure to UV light at 254 nm, acid (0.5 N hydrochloric acid), base (0.5 N sodium hydroxide) and aqueous hydrolysis and oxidation with 3.0% v/v hydrogen peroxide. Considerable degradation was observed under oxidation conditions. Good resolution between the peaks corresponding to impurities produced during synthesis, degradation products and the analyte was achieved on a Phenomenex Gemini C18 LC column using a mobile phase consisting of a mixture of aqueous potassium dihydrogen phosphate (pH 3.0) and acetonitrile. The degradation samples were assayed against the reference standard of Rimonabant and the mass balance in each case was close to 99.5%. Validation of the method was carried out as per ICH requirements.