Simultaneous determination of doxorubicin, daunorubicin, and idarubicin by capillary electrophoresis with laser‐induced fluorescence detection

The separation and simultaneous determination of doxorubicin, daunorubicin and ida‐rubicin was investigated using capillary electrophoresis with laser‐induced fluorescence detection. Because the three anthracycline antibiotics were similar in structure and mass, careful manipulation of the electroosmotic flow and electrophoretic mobilities was required. A buffer consisting of 100 mM borate, adjusted to pH 9.5, containing 30% acetonitrile was found to provide a very efficient and stable electrophoretic system for the analysis of the three anthracyclines. The method was applied to the determination of three anthracyclines in serum samples. Responses were linear in the range of 10 — 500 ng·mL−1 and the detection limits were lower than 0.9 ng·mL−1.