Separation methods for alkylating antineoplastic compounds

The separating method for alkylating neoplastic compounds were reviewed based on the classification of the Merck Index (12th Edition). Each section, whenever available or relevant, was subdivided according to the following approach: stability studies, extraction methods, gas chromatography, high-performance liquid chromatography and capillary electrophoresis. At the end of each chapter a separate table summarizing the main characteristics of the separating method were established. In particular LODs and/or LOQs were expressed as quantity to facilitate comparison between methods. This review highlights the problems to measure trace levels of these compounds into biological fluids with respect to their instability, adsorption to glass and plastic or derivatization requirements. Over the last decades, HPLC seems to be more popular than GC for separating the alkylating agents. The development of narrow- or microbore LC coupled to MS is certainly the way to further improve both separation and sensitivity obtained in the different papers surveyed for this review.