Abstract: A novel method for the determination of gabapentin (an antiepileptic drug) has been developed using capillary electrophoresis with laser-induced fluorescence detection (LIFD). Gabapentin was first derived by 4-chloro-7-nitrobenzofurazan (NBD-Cl) and baseline separated within 6 min with a running buffer consisting of 10 mmol/L borate sodium and 10 mmol/L sodium dodecyl sulfate (pH 9.75). The linear range of this method was 0.01~10 mg/L (r=0.9997) with the limit of detection (LOD) of 2 μg/L and the limit of quantification (LOQ) of 10 μg/L. The average recoveries were 100.2%~103.1% with the relative standard deviation (RSD) of 0.15%~1.00%. This method is fast, sensitive, accurate and reliable, and it has been used successfully for the quality assessment of gabapentin drug products.

Key words: 4-chloro-7-nitrobenzofurazan （NBD-Cl）, antiepileptic drug, gabapentin, capillary electrophoresis-laser induced fluorescence detection (CE-LIFD)