Spectroscopic analysis of pindolol irradiated in the solid state

Pindolol ((2RS)-(1-(1H-indol-4-iloxy)-3- [(1-metyloetylo)amino]-2-propanol) in substantia was exposed to ionising radiation emitted by high energy electrons from an accelerator, in the standard sterilisation dose of 25 kGy and in higher doses from the range 50–400 kGy. The effects of irradiation were checked by spectrometric methods (UV, MS, FT-IR, EPR) and hyphenated methods (HPLC-MS) and the results were referred to those obtained for non-irradiated sample. EPR results indicated the presence of free radicals in irradiated samples, in the amount of 1.36 × 1016 spin g−1 for 25 kGy and 3.70×1016 spin g−1 for 400 kGy. The loss of pindolol content determined by HPLC was 1.34% after irradiation with 400 kGy, while the radiolytic yield of the total radiolysis for this dose of irradiation was 2.69×107 mol J−1. By means of HPLC-MS it was possible to separate and identify one product of radiolytic decomposition, which probably is 2-((R)-3-(1H-indol-4-yloxy)-2-hydroxypropylamino)propan-1-ol formed upon oxidation. In the range of sterilisation doses (25–50 kGy), pindolol was found to show high radiochemical stability and would probably be safely sterilised by the standard dose of 25 kGy.