Isolation and characterization of major degradants in dihydroergotamine injection

In this study, we report the systematic approach for characterization of two major degradant impurities, which are not listed in any compendia and were formed during the stability studies of Dihydroergotamine mesylate injection (DHE). An ion-pair UPLC chromatographic method was developed to quantify the related substances present in the DHE injection drug product. The same was used to monitor the impurity profiling during its stability. The two unknown impurities were observed at RRT about 0.08 (Impurity-1) and RRT about 0.80 (Impurity-5) and found to be significantly increasing on stability. Forced degradation studies revealed the nature of the impurity and conditions required for enriching them. A Mass compatible HPLC method was developed to quantify only these two impurities using 25% ammonia and formic acid in water. Their mass numbers were identified using LC MS/MS with triple quadruple mass spectrometer coupled with a HPLC. These two impurities were then isolated from enriched products using preparative HPLC. These impurities were then characterized using Mass and NMR analysis along with Q-TOF elemental analysis.