ANALISI FARMACEUTICA E NUTRACEUTICO-ALIMENTARE 2 A - L

RA — Expected Learning Outcomes

Knowledge and understanding

On completion of the course, students will know the theoretical principles of the main instrumental analytical techniques (spectroscopic, chromatographic, spectrometric and electrophoretic) applied to the identification and quantification of organic compounds of pharmaceutical interest, listed in the monographs of the official pharmacopoeias, and of products in the nutraceutical-food sector. They will also know the criteria for selecting an analytical method, sample preparation strategies for complex biological matrices, and the validation parameters of an analytical method according to ICH guidelines.

Ability to apply knowledge and understanding

On completion of the course, students will be able to: select the appropriate analytical technique for a defined analytical objective; develop and optimise a protocol for the analysis of an active ingredient in a pharmaceutical dosage form or a biological matrix; develop and optimize an analytical protocol to ensure the authenticity/safety of food products and to identify/quantify bioactive components in a nutraceutical; interpret UV-Vis, IR, MS and NMR spectra for structural identification purposes; apply validation criteria to a chromatographic method.

Making judgements

Students will be able to critically interpret experimental data, assess the fitness for purpose of an analytical method, and recognise anomalies and artefacts. Activities contributing to this outcome: laboratory sessions and analysis of real analytical case studies (problem-based learning).

Communication skills

Students will be able to present analytical methods and results using appropriate scientific terminology, both in writing and orally. Activities contributing to this outcome: writing laboratory reports.

Learning skills

Students will have acquired the theoretical and practical skills needed to independently update their knowledge and address new analytical problems. Activities contributing to this outcome: guided consultation of pharmacopoeia monographs and primary literature.

MS — Course Structure

Theoretical lectures (LT) in the classroom, supported by slide projection systems (42 hours).

Individual-bench laboratory sessions (ELS) (45 hours).

English-friendly course.

If the course is delivered in blended or remote mode, appropriate adjustments may be made to the above, in order to ensure consistency with the syllabus.

Students may use AI as a study aid, in compliance with applicable regulations—including those regarding copyright and the use of intellectual works, as outlined in section 5.1 of the guidelines (https://www.unict.it/it/ateneo/cidia-centro-l%E2%80%99informatica-la-digitalizzazione-e-l%E2%80%99intelligenza-artificiale).

Information for students with disabilities and/or SLD

To ensure equal opportunities and in compliance with current laws, interested students may request a personal interview in order to plan any compensatory and/or dispensatory measures based on educational objectives and specific needs. Students can also contact the CInAP (Centro per l'integrazione Attiva e Partecipata — Servizi per le Disabilità e/o i DSA, https://www.cinap.unict.it/content/referenti) and referring teacher (prof.ssa Santina Chiechio, email: santina.chiechio@unict.it) within the Department.

PR — Required Prerequisites

The following knowledge is essential for effective attendance of the course (cultural prerequisites):

• principles of general and inorganic chemistry: acid-base equilibria, partition equilibria, solutions and their concentration;
  
• organic chemistry: structure, nomenclature and reactivity of the main functional groups, stereochemistry and chirality;
  
• principles of classical qualitative and quantitative analysis (gravimetry, volumetry) and basic statistical treatment of analytical data;
  
• elements of physics: electromagnetic waves, the electromagnetic spectrum, electrostatics.
  

Basic computer skills for processing experimental data are useful.

Formal prerequisites: as established by the Academic Regulations of the degree programme, admission to the examination is subject to passing the examinations listed therein as prerequisites.

MF — Attendance of Lessons

Classroom attendance is compulsory. The maximum permitted rate of absence is 30%, as set out in the Academic Regulations of the degree programme, available on the website of the Department of Drug and Health Sciences. Students who exceed this limit will not be admitted to the practical laboratory sessions.

CN — Detailed Course Content

Identification of compounds listed in the Italian Official Pharmacopoeia and in the European Pharmacopoeia. Preliminary tests: organoleptic characteristics, behaviour of substances on combustion, solubility in water and in reactive solvents. Classification of substances according to their solubility.

Functional groups and identification tests: carboxylic acids and derivatives, hydroxy acids, phenols, alcohols, aldehydes and ketones, halogen derivatives, amines, nitro compounds. Identification of carbohydrates and amino acids.

Determination of physical constants: melting point, boiling point, refractive index, optical rotation. Elemental organic analysers for CHNOS qualitative-quantitative analysis.

Chromatographic techniques. General principles of the chromatographic process and chromatographic parameters. Distribution constant. Retention time. Capacity factor. Selectivity. Efficiency: plate theory; van Deemter equation; extra-column factors. Chromatographic peak asymmetry. Resolution.

Liquid chromatography: stationary phase, mobile phase. Liquid-solid, liquid-liquid, ion-exchange, ion-pair, size-exclusion and affinity chromatography. Column chromatography, thin-layer chromatography (TLC). High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC, UPLC): instrumentation. Enantioselective chromatographic separations using chiral stationary phases.

Gas chromatography (GC): instrumental aspects, types of stationary phase, detection in GC. Capillary Electrophoresis (CE): instrumentation, theoretical principles, analytical parameters.

Hyphenated techniques: liquid chromatography with photodiode-array UV-VIS detector (HPLC-DAD), liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS), gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS).

Qualitative and quantitative analysis (external standard method, internal standard method). Sample preparation from complex biological matrices. Validation of the analytical method: linearity, precision, accuracy, reproducibility, limit of detection (LOD), limit of quantification (LOQ). Development of chromatographic methods for the quality control of drugs and nutraceuticals in pre-clinical and clinical research. Instrumental analysis in the nutraceutical-food sector. Determination of drug/target protein interactions by high-performance affinity chromatography (HPAC), for the development of new drugs.

Laboratory sessions

Identification of compounds of pharmaceutical interest. Drugs listed in the FUI and Pharm. Eur. monographs. Solubility tests. Acid-base-amphoteric character. Identification of functional groups. Determination of melting point, refractometry and polarimetry. Identification of samples of pharmaceutical and nutraceutical-food interest.

High-performance liquid chromatography. Development of HPLC methods for the determination of analytes of pharmaceutical and nutraceutical-food interest in pharmaceutical dosage forms and complex biological matrices. Study of resolution, selectivity and efficiency as a function of chromatographic parameters (stationary phase, mobile phase, flow rate, pH and temperature). Calculation of chromatographic parameters (resolution, capacity factor, selectivity factor, number of theoretical plates, peak asymmetry).

TD — Textbook Information

1. Manuale di analisi qualitativa, edited by Giuseppe Caliendo – Edises, 1st ed./2020 (1 January 2019)
   
2. D. G. Watson - Analisi farmaceutica – Edra, 2014.
   
3. V. Cavrini, V. Andrisano. Principi di Analisi Farmaceutica. Società Editrice Esculapio, Bologna. 4th ed., 2018.
   
4. R.M. Silverstein, F.X. Webster: "Identificazione spettroscopica di composti organici" - Ambrosiana Editrice, Milan, 2016 (reference text)
   
5. Teaching material provided by the lecturer.
   

4. MV — Learning Assessment

Learning is assessed by means of a written/oral examination.

Learning assessment may also be carried out on-line, should the conditions require it.

The exam calendar is published on the website of the Department of Drug and Health Sciences: http://www.dsf.unict.it/corsi/lm-13_ctf/calendario-esami

Criteria for the award of the final mark

Fail: the student does not possess the minimum knowledge of the principles of the analytical techniques covered; is unable to select or justify an analytical approach; technical language is poor or absent.

18–21: minimum knowledge of the main techniques; able to apply known procedures only in previously seen contexts; limited ability to interpret experimental data; poorly developed command of technical language.

22–25: fair knowledge, limited to the main topics; sets out an analytical protocol correctly but not always coherently; interprets data with some uncertainty; reasonably clear presentation.

26–28: good knowledge of theoretical and instrumental principles; independently selects the technique suited to the analytical problem; critically interprets experimental data; clear presentation with appropriate language.

29–30 cum laude: thorough knowledge; integrates different techniques to solve complex analytical problems, including in biological matrices; critically assesses the suitability and limitations of methods; excellent communication skills and command of language.

ED — Examples of frequently asked questions and/or exercises

• Describe the theoretical principles and applications of partition chromatography
  
• Describe the theoretical principles and applications of capillary electrophoresis
  
• Describe the validation parameters of an analytical method (linearity, precision, accuracy, reproducibility, LOD, LOQ) and the experimental procedures used to determine them.
  
• Describe the steps involved in developing an HPLC method for the qualitative/quantitative determination of an active ingredient in a medicinal product.
  
• Describe the theoretical principles and instrumentation for determining Specific Optical Rotation
  
• Describe the identification reactions of amines of pharmaceutical interest