A partition chromatographic method was developed which quantitatively separates the 2 major ipecac alkaloids emetine and cephaeline. The isolated alkaloids are determined by their ultraviolet absorbance at 283 nm. The method was applied to powdered ipecac root, ipecac sirup, and ipecac fluidextract. The results obtained show good precision.

A method for the determination of 2 major alkaloids in ipecac sirup and powdered ipecac root was subjected to collaborative study. A 4-column chromatographic procedure is used for the isolation of emetine and cephaeline, which are measured individually by UV absorption. Two commercial sirups were employed as samples. The powdered root samples were representative of the different ratios of emetine and cephaeline occurring in the different species. The collaborative results were good: Standard deviations ranged from 0.024 to 0.066 for the powdered samples and from 1.11 to 2.77 for the sirup samples. The methods have been adopted as official first action for determination of emetine and cephaeline in ipecac sirup, powdered root, and fluidextract.

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