Investigation and automation of the fluorometric ion pair method for the determination of several amines in low dosage pharmaceuticals

Electrochemical Behavior and Determination of Clozapine on a Glassy Carbon Electrode Modified by Electrochemical Oxidation

The adsorptive and electrochemical behaviors of clozapine (CLZ) were investigated on a glassy carbon electrode that was electrochemically treated by anodic oxidation at +1.8 V, following potential cycling in the potential range from -0.8 to 1.0 V vs. Ag/AgCl reference electrode. Based on the obtained electrochemical results, an electrochemical-chemical (EC) mechanism was proposed to explain the electrochemical oxidation of CLZ. The resulting electrochemically pretreated glassy carbon electrode (EPGCE) showed good activity to improve the electrochemical response of the drug. CLZ was accumulated in a phosphate buffer (pH 6) at a certain time, and then determined by differential pulse voltammetry. The anodic and cathodic peak currents showed a linear function in the concentration ranges of 0.1 - 1, 1 - 10 and 10 - 100 microM with various accumulation times. The proposed method was successfully used for the determination of CLZ in pharmaceutical preparations. The preconcentration medium-exchange approach was utilized for the selective determination of the drug in spiked urine samples with satisfactory results. The recovery levels of the method reached 96% (RSD, 1.8%) and 90% (RSD, 2.8%) for urine and plasma samples, respectively.

Validated spectrophotometric and fluorimetric methods for analysis of clozapine in tablets and urine

Five spectrophotometric methods and one fluorimetric method have been developed and validated for the analysis of clozapine. The spectrophotometric methods were based on the charge-transfer complexation reaction between clozapine as electron donor and each of iodine as sigma-acceptor or 7,7,8,8-tetracyanoquinondimethane (TCNQ), 2,3-dichloro-5,6-dicyano-1,4-benzo-quinone (DDQ), tetracyanoethane (TCNE), and p-chloranilic acid (pCA) as pi-acceptors. The obtained complexes were measured spectrophotometrically at 365, 843, 460, 414, and 520 nm for iodine, TCNQ, DDQ, TCNE, and pCA, respectively. The fluorimetric method was based on the oxidation of clozapine in the presence of perchloric acid by cerium (IV), and subsequent measuring the fluorescence of the produced cerium (III) fluorimetrically at lambda(excitation) 260 and lambda(emission) 355 nm. Under the optimum assay conditions, Beer's law was obeyed at concentrations ranged from 4-200 microg mL(-1) for the spectrophotometric methods and from 24-250 ng mL(-1) for the fluorimetric method. The limits of detection for the spectrophotometric methods were 1.12, 1.76, 2.22, 0.95, and 13.26 microg mL(-1) for iodine, TCNQ, DDQ, TCNE, and pCA, respectively. The limit of detection for the fluorimetric method was 6.69 ng mL(-1). The proposed methods were successfully applied to the analysis of clozapine in tablets with good recoveries. The fluorimetric method could also be applied to the analysis of clozapine in spiked urine samples. The molar ratios and the reaction mechanisms were investigated.

A high performance liquid chromatographic post-column fluorescent ion pair extraction system: application to physostigmine and its metabolite eseroline in human serum

A high performance liquid chromatographic post-column fluorescent ion pair extraction system was developed for the analysis of quaternary ammonium and amine drugs in serum. A new fluorescent ion pair reagent, sodium alpha-(3,4-dimethoxyphenyl) cinnamonitrile-2'-sulfonate (DPS), was synthesized and characterized. The post-column extraction system consisted of a three-dimensional knitted teflon mixing coil and a membrane phase separator which was modified from an original literature design. Physostigmine and its metabolite eseroline were used as model cations. A solid phase extraction procedure using octadecylsilane columns was developed to extract the compounds and neostigmine bromide (internal standard) from human serum. The compounds were chromatographed on a diol column using a 80:20 aqueous phosphate buffer pH 4 absolute methanol mobile phase at a flow rate of 1 mL/min. Methylene chloride was used as the on-line extraction solvent for the DPS ion pairs formed. Fluorescence of the extracted ion pairs was measured using an excitation of 243 nm and an emission cut-off filter at 418 nm. Linearity was in the 2-100 ng/mL and 5-100 ng/mL ranges for physostigmine and eseroline, respectively. Detection limits based on a signal-to-noise ratio of 2, were 2 and 5 ng/mL, respectively. Precision of the method was found to be in the 1.5-3% range and percentage error in the 1.5-7% range for both compounds.

The assay of pseudoephedrine hydrochloride in tablets and liquid formulations by two phase acid-base titration

A novel titration method for the assay of pseudoephedrine hydrochloride in formulations is presented. Pseudoephedrine base is extracted into chloroform and titrated with acid in a two phase system. The method is specific for the drug in tablet and syrup formulations. The precision and speed of assay are comparable with existing spectrometric and titration methods for amine drugs.