We report a new method for the determination of the methyl, ethyl and isopropyl esters of methanesulfonic acid, and of dimethyl sulfate. Derivatisation with aqueous sodium thiocyanate gives a mixture of the corresponding alkylthiocyanates and alkylisothiocyanates which, unlike the underivatised analytes, are readily analysed by GC. On-column isomerisation is negligible. These lower alkyl derivatives are sufficiently volatile for static reaction headspace analysis, and detection limits obtained by electron impact MS are below 0.05 µg ml 21 with respect to the injection solution. The method was used to demonstrate that levels of methanesulfonic acid esters in a drug substance (a mesylate salt that had been processed using methanol and ethanol) are below 1 µg g 21 .

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An LC-MS method is described for the determination of the synthetic reagent N,N-dimethylaminoethyl chloride (DMC) in the drug substance diltiazem hydrochloride, for which the permissible limit is not more than 1 ppm (microgram g-1). The N,N-dimethylaziridinium ion (DMA), the reactive intermediate formed by cyclisation of DMC, is also detected. A column switching arrangement is used: diltiazem hydrochloride is trapped on a reversed-phase HPLC column, and the polar analytes are separated by ion exchange chromatography. Ionisation is effected by positive-ion electrospray, and the quadrupole filter mass spectrometer is operated in the selected ion recording mode. The detection limit (peak height-to-baseline noise ratio = 3) for DMC varies from day to day in the range < 0.05 to 0.1 ppm. The response for DMC is linear (r > 0.999) over the concentration range 0.2-10 ppm, and the repeatability is better than 7% (relative standard deviation) at 1.0 ppm. Concentrations of DMC in diltiazem hydrochloride from the manufacturing facility under study ranged from undetectable to about 0.07 ppm. An indirect TLC method has been published for the determination of DMC in mepyramine maleate, but it lacks the necessary sensitivity and specificity. The LC-MS method presented is direct, straightforward and suitable for routine use.