Determination of adriamycin content in pectin–adriamycin conjugate in a two-phase reaction system by high-performance liquid chromatography

A newly proposed method for detecting content of adriamycin in pectin–adriamycin conjugate has been developed and evaluated. The content of adriamycin was detected by selective degradation of adramycin to adriamycinone. It was realized by a two-phase reaction system (water–chloroform reaction system), in which adriamycin was quantitatively converted to adriamycinone. Therefore, the latter can be used to calculate the precise content of adramycin in the polymer drug. To develop the method, the catalyst for degradation, the extraction solvent for adriamycinone, the temperature and time of degradation, and the ratio of pectin–adriamycin conjugate were investigated. The optimal reaction condition was as follows: 30 mg of pectin–adriamycin conjugate dissolved in 25 mL of water was added to a mixture of 25 mL of hydrochloric acid (1.5 mol/L) and 50 mL of chloroform; the mixture was heated to 40 °C to react for 1.5 h; after that, the mixture was extracted with chloroform for three times, and then the organic lay...