Determination of ferrocene-A in the blood serum of rabbits using reversed-phase microcolumn HPLC.

Ferrocene-A (ferrocenyl-1-phenyl-1-dioxy-1,4-butin-2) has shown significant antitumour and antibacterial activity. To facilitate studies in this field a simple and rapid liquid chromatographic procedure was developed, allowing the determination of ferrocene-A in the blood serum. The procedure was based on a reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method, with UV detection at 210 nm. The mobile phase ethanol-0.01 M KH2PO4 60:40 (v/v) provides the complete separation of ferrocene-A, internal standard and endogenous compounds of serum. The recovery of ferrocene-A from serum using a hexaneisoamyl alcohol mixture was 90%. The proposed method is convenient for pharmacological and pharmacokinetic applications.