Development of UV-visible spectrophotometric methods for the quantitative and in silico studies for cilazapril optimized by response surface methodology

For cilazapril (CLZ), analytical methods based on donor-acceptor phenomenon that are simple, rapid with broad linear dynamic range for the quantification of drug are not available in the literature. Considering the requirement for the methods, in this study, two economic, potent analytical methods based on the complexation of CLZ with π-acceptors, 2,3-dichloro-5,6-dicyano-1,4-benzoquinone (DDQ) and 2,5-dichloro-3,6-dihydroxy-p-benzoquinone (CA) were developed, validated, and studied spectrophotometrically. Various analytical data were discussed. The effects of experimental variables were optimized from the results of in silico technique, i.e. Box-Behnken design under response surface methodology. Linear dynamic range was significantly good in the range of 6-60 µg mL^-1 and 20-260 µg mL^-1 for DDQ and CA methods. Moreover, molecular docking studies corroborated the experimental results. Further, the methods were supplemented by the pharmaceutical and biological application for the quantitative assay of CLZ. Collectively, the results of the reported method of the analysis suggest that the developed approach is simple, sensitive, accurate and precise.