Tartaric acid Metoprolol tartrate

Metoprolol tartrate is a synthetic drug substance used for the treatment of hypertension (Fig. 1). The drug substance is a 2 1 salt that contains a racemic mixture of optical isomers of metaprolol and naturally occurring dextro-tartaric acid. Both the active ingredient and the tablet form have different testing requirements. 

Enantiomers of (-P/—)-metoprolol tartrate were separated on silica gel 60F plates using the chiral selector d-(—)-tartaric acid (11.6 mM solution) both impregnated into the layer and as mobile phase additive. The mobile phase was ethanol/water (70 30) and development temperature was 25 C. The layer was impregnated at ambient temperature for 90 min before sample application. Separated zones were detected by viewing at 254 nm, scanning at 230 nm, and exposure to iodine vapor. Rf values were 0.65 and 0.50 for the S-(—) and R-(+) enantiomers, respectively [19]. 

More recently, the optical isomers of tartaric acid were used for impregnation of silica gel layers to separate optical antipodes of metoprolol tartrate in Presolol... 

Lucic, B., Radulovic, D., Vujic, Z. and Agbada, D., Direct separation of the enantiomers of (-l-)-metoprolol tartrate on impregnated TLC plates with D-(—)-tartaric acid as a chiral selector, J. Planar Chromatogr, 18, 294—299, 2005. 

---